The Long Holiday
by mgharmon
Summary: Diverges from canon at the end of Season 2 with a completely new Season Finale Episode. Castle and Gina leave for the Hamptons to reconnect. Beckett focuses on getting through Memorial Day Weekend. Alexis can't believe the adults in her life are so stupid...
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _A Deadly Game_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

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><p>"'Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.'" Tim declaimed.<p>

Alexis chortled. "Yeah…no. I don't think quoting Pit the Younger is going to convince our resident adviser to let us sneak beer into the dorms."

The rest of their group laughed. Tim tried to look affronted, but after years of watching her dad play the offended dignity card Alexis knew a clown playing to the crowd when she saw one. Julie, her new roommate, laughed with the rest but looked relieved that nobody else stood up for Tim's gambit. Alexis wasn't the most sociable girl, but the tiny brunette beside her had been _homeschooled_; where the Princeton summer program would just be a longer stay away from home for Alexis, to Julie it had to be overwhelming.

Alexis leaned over. "Want to turn in?"

"Really? Can we?"

Julie looked around. Nobody else in their little group seemed inclined to leave the student lounge. Maybe later, when they'd gotten over the thrill of being on campus, gotten to know everybody, but not on the first night.

"Sure." Alexis shrugged. "I promised my dad I'd call tonight anyway, and I don't want to leave it too late—he…might be busy."

Or he might still be worried. He'd spent half the drive to Princeton trying to subtly give her the Boy Talk. Again. Her joke, _Well, it looks like I'm not the only one getting lucky this summer!_ had been a big mistake—the quick _Kidding! Kidding!_ hadn't helped. She just _knew_ that only the fact her dad had known she wouldn't accept it had kept him from turning around and dragging her off to the Hamptons where he could watch her for the rest of the summer. And probably the rest of her _life_.

But he'd dropped her off, with a hug and a kiss and a "Miss you already." She'd sighed in relief, and not just for her, either; he'd invited a special _someone_ to their beach house for Memorial Day Weekend—someone he wouldn't name. Alexis had known who it had to be and she'd hidden her urge to squeal and do a happy-dance with her ill-timed joke.

Inappropriate humor: apparently it was the Castle family way.

Alexis _really_ didn't want to give her dad another chance to lecture her, but the last thing she wanted was for him to be too worried to be good company; calling and introducing him to her nice, _female_, roommate would help a lot.

"C'mon," she whispered. "Tim will tell jokes, everyone will laugh, and I'll miss my chance because nobody wants to be the first to leave. I'd rather talk to Dad."

Julie looked at Alexis like she thought her dad kept odd hours, but the excuse was good with her and Alexis swallowed a laugh at the uncool relief her new roommate tried to hide. They said goodnight to everyone and left the lounge.

They'd gotten lucky—or unlucky depending—and gotten assigned a room right across from the RA's. Definitely lucky; there wouldn't be any stealth-parties in _their_ room, which meant they got to choose to join the fun or not as the mood struck. Julie flopped back on her bed while Alexis fished out her phone and hit '1,' dropping onto her own bed as it rang.

One…two…three…four… Maybe he was already "busy." _Ugh. Don't _think_ about parental romance. It's good, it's with—_

"Alexis?" The voice on the phone wasn't Dad's, and it wasn't _Kate's_.

"Hi, Lexy! Rick's upstairs looking for a book. How's Princeton?"

Alexis almost dropped the phone. She stared at it, finally managed to stammer.

"Gina?"

What. The. _Heck_?

* * *

><p>Kate stared at the neatly folded stacks of clothing covering her bed, blew a stray lock of hair out of her face. So, what now? She'd done a laundry day, paid all her bills, even thrown away all the old and moldy Chinese takeaway in her fridge, and she still had to get through Sunday.<p>

_Displacement activity._ She knew the shrink-term, she'd heard it enough going through the department-mandated therapy Captain Montgomery had insisted on when her obsessive off-book work on her mother's cold case had spun out of control and almost wrecked her health and her career. Five more minutes put everything away, and she blinked at the bare room. The walls were naked even of art.

She still hadn't found a new place, just this week-to-week rental with no room for her stuff even if it had survived the fire.

She could resume her apartment-hunt. _That_ would be a productive use of the rest of the weekend. Except the pages of listings had all been marked up by Castle, with little red notes in the margins dissecting what the attractive descriptions _really_ meant. She'd actually planned to check out the few that he'd circled (without telling him, of course), but now she'd be hearing his imagined opinion in her ears if she did.

Call Lanie? Go out? Not a chance; her BF could read her like a book. One of Castle's books. After Castle had walked out with Gina and a casual "See you in the fall" thrown over his shoulder, Kate had managed to straighten her face for the gang—not that it had done any good. Montgomery. Espo. Ryan. Lanie. They'd all seen, and they'd accepted her excuses and let her get away before she embarrassed herself any more, but Lanie would want to make sure she was All Right.

And she wasn't.

"Damn it!" Kate blinked and breathed hard until the prickling behind her eyes went away again. She'd be okay. She _would_. She'd been here before—most recently when she'd watched Dick Coonan die on the 12th Precinct's dirty floor and the sudden, breathtaking hope of learning who'd ordered her mother killed died with him.

Except that hadn't felt this bad. Because like she'd told Castle, she'd find the sons of bitches responsible someday. _This_ time… She closed her eyes tight, seeing last night again. Seeing him leave. This time didn't leave somedays, just a might-have-been that made her want to cry every time she came back to it.

And she had nobody to blame for this one but herself. She laughed at the empty apartment.

_The great Detective Beckett._ _Nikki freaking Heat!_ So dumb she hadn't even seen—hadn't let herself see—how Castle had felt. She'd thought his scramble to get back in her good graces last fall after digging into her mother's case had been about losing contact with his "muse". Even after his beautiful apology to her when he'd thought he'd lost—she'd brushed it off as her man-boy of a partner being a grownup for once. But he'd dedicated the book to her. He'd dropped one hundred grand on a chance to help her find justice for her mom. Hell, he'd run into a burning apartment to get her!

Even more stupidly, she'd ignored all her own signs. Castle's first True Love had told Kate _He's all yours_, and she'd brushed it off. Agent Shaw, an FBI goddamn _profiler_, had seen it. Even Maddi, who she hadn't seen in years, had known. _I get it—you're hot for Castle. You want to make little Castle Babies._

And even then, even _then_ she'd done such a good job of ignoring what was right in front of her that when Castle had sat down by her desk and told her that the weird spy-game they'd been trying to unwind would be his last case—it had felt like she'd missed a move sparring and someone had kicked her in the stomach. Espo's brutally honest _What did you expect?_ later by the murder board had dropped her gasping to the mat again.

What _had_ she expected? What had she been _thinking_?

But it wasn't _fair_, it really wasn't. Once she'd let herself see what was in front of her she'd moved _fast_. Poor Demming had asked if it was something he'd done; he'd really deserved more than the "You're great, but—" speech, but she hadn't _lied_ and she was pretty sure he'd understood what she'd been trying to say. _You're great, but you're not Castle and I just figured out I need Castle._

Yeah she'd moved fast. But not fast enough. One day. One freaking _day_, and Castle had gone from accepting her clumsy blow-off to making up with his beautiful and glamorous _ex-wife_. Because why shouldn't he? He'd given her every chance and she'd gone and started seeing another guy right under his nose. Then rubbed his nose in it by going from _I'm too busy Castle_ to making alternate plans with Demming.

She blinked some more, looked at her dad's watch. It wasn't too late to go out and get a new apartment-listing magazine. Not that you ever got a good deal from one of those; you had to _know_ somebody in this town—

Her phone rang.

Who? She reached for it, stopped. If it was Lanie, she'd have to answer. If it was Castle… She was an idiot, of course it wasn't be Castle, but it _might_ be the precinct—a body-drop and an end to her useless, wallowing, Weekend from Hell. She swiped the screen, almost dropped it.

_Castle_.

It rang until it went to voicemail while she stared at it. Then it rang again.

She answered it the third time.

"Castle?" Her voice wasn't strong, but it didn't shake. She could do this. She could.

"Beckett! Is Alexis there?"

"Alexis? Castle—"

"She's not at Princeton! She left a note on her bed saying she was going home, they found it when they checked her room but she's not answering her cell and Edwardo hasn't seen her! He checked the Loft!"

"Castle, are you sure?" Kate closed her eyes, shook her head. _Alexis_? Never, not in a million years, could she imagine Castle's amazing, thoughtful, level-headed girl pulling something like this. Her breath caught.

No, she couldn't imagine Alexis doing this. But to not get _home_…

"Beckett—"

"We'll find her Castle. I'm going in. She has her own credit card, right? We'll—"

Somebody knocked on her door. Loudly. "Hold on a second, Castle. Someone's…" She checked the chain, looked through the peephole. This time she dropped the phone.

"Beckett? Beckett!"

Kate ignored him to struggle with the chain, throw open the door. Alexis stood outside in the hall.

* * *

><p>"No. Dad. I'm okay! Dad. Dad! Don't. Don't come home."<p>

Alexis paced back and forth in Kate's tiny living room. Kate leaned against a counter and watched.

"I'm fine. Really. I'm Sorry. No." Alexis threw Kate a look, breathed. "I'll come out there. No. Really. Kate can bring me."

Kate choked, brought her hands up but Alexis had turned away, listening to her father. A few more one-word answers and she turned back, wide-eyed, and handed Kate her phone.

"Dad—Dad wants to talk to you."

She took it. "Castle?"

"Beckett? Does she…does Alexis look alright?"

Kate looked up, really _looked_, scanning Castle's daughter with a cop's eyes. His beautiful red-headed girl looked…scared? Determined? Something she couldn't name, but, and Kate closed her eyes and thanked God, Alexis didn't look _hurt_—not outwardly and not in her eyes. Her freckles stood out in her pale face, but she wasn't looking at Kate with a victim's shocked stare.

Kate let out a breath, knowing she'd caught Castle's nightmare there—every parent's nightmare—but that whatever the hell was going on, _that_ hadn't happened.

"She looks fine, Castle. Really. Scared of what her father's going to do maybe, but that's all."

"Okay. Okay."

Kate listened to him breathe on the other end of the phone. God, what he had to be feeling. She couldn't imagine.

"Beckett? Could you—I know it's a lot to ask, but could you bring her out here? I don't know what's going on, but…"

"Sure, Castle. We'll leave tonight. Everything's…" She looked at Alexis. "Everything's fine. We'll be on the road in five minutes."

"Right. Wait. Beckett, you and Demming…"

_Shit_. She closed her eyes, sighed. "We canceled the weekend. Bye Castle."

"…Thanks Beckett. Bye."

Kate hung up and looked at the little screen. Like it would tell why she'd just agreed to... When she didn't say anything, Alexis cleared her throat.

"Detective Beckett? Kate? I'm _really_ sorry. I was going to go straight home, but the trip took longer than I thought, and— I lost my nerve."

The poor kid sounded miserable, but Kate's ears, trained detective's ears that had heard hundreds of evasions and denials, told her Alexis was... Not exactly _lying_, but…misdirecting? Which still made _no sense_. Not from _Alexis_.

"Do we need to stop at the Loft?" Now that she wasn't focused on Alexis or the phone, she spotted the new student backpack the girl had dropped by the door.

"No." Alexis shook her head. "I left everything but my personal stuff at Princeton, and there's clothes at the beach house. Kate?"

"Give me a minute, Alexis. I told your dad we're on our way."

Because if she started asking questions, or second-guessing her own sanity, they'd be here all night.

* * *

><p>The Long Island Expressway ran faster than Kate would have expected, but it was Saturday evening; most holiday weekenders had passed this way last night, with Castle and Gina. Alexis wasn't a nervous chain-of-thought babbler like Castle, and Kate couldn't figure out where to start interrogating. Everything started with <em>What were you thinking?<em> But those were a father's questions, and Alexis had closed up. Kate knew the signs of someone ready to take the Fifth, and they drove in silence.

It wasn't her business, she told herself. Castle would find out what had happened; she had other things to worry about than the safe and unharmed girl beside her. Like how fast she could drop her off and turn around.

Alexis gave directions when they left the expressway. For a while Kate wondered if they were driving all the way to Montauk, but at last they turned onto a narrow beach road, dark except for the driveway lamps of widely spaced properties. Kate drove carefully, and Alexis pointed out a driveway gate lit by an old-fashioned carriage lamp. The winding drive opened out in front of…

"This is your _beach house_?"

The girl actually laughed.

"I know, right? Dad says he went a little crazy when the money first started pouring in. I was seven or eight when I figured out that not everyone has a mansion for a getaway home."

"Uhuh." It _was_ a mansion. A small one, maybe, but Kate would bet she couldn't see it all in the dark. More carriage lamps lit the front, but the two-story place's edges were lost in shadow. Then she didn't have time to think about it—the front door opened and Castle was there; he had to have been waiting right inside, seen her lights or heard the sound of tires on gravel.

Kate pulled to a stop, set the parking brake. Alexis unbuckled but didn't move, and she felt a stab of sympathy for the girl.

"Think you're grounded forever?"

That broke the spell. Alexis took a deep breath and her chin came up. She got out and Kate opened her own door, climbing out more slowly; _she_ wasn't sixteen and they'd driven straight through. Castle bounded off the porch, and despite the fact that just seeing him there in the light made her breath catch in her throat, Kate had to smile. The man might be madder than words, but he had his priorities straight; he wrapped Alexis in a hug so tight that the girl probably couldn't breathe.

They stood there for a long moment, then Castle kissed the top of his daughter's head, raising his eyes to look at Kate.

"Thanks for bringing her, Beckett."

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><p><strong><em>Thus endeth the beginning, and I hope you like it. On a personal note, the blame for <em>****The Long Holiday ****_lies with my long-time disgruntlement with the way the series writers handled the dance of denial Castle and Beckett engage in from the end of Season Two to the end of Season Four. Yes, they were afraid of the Moonlighting Curse, but they still strung things out too long. This little story is obviously a way of addressing that._**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

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><p>"Dad! Detective Beckett can't drive all the way back to town tonight!"<p>

"It's fine, Castle," Kate said. She kept her hands in her jacket pockets—Hampton nights were cool even this late in May (and the excuse kept her from reaching out, touching his sleeve where he'd moved up with one arm around Alexis). "I'm going to go and find a motel. We passed a few on the way out."

"Yeah, no you're not." Castle shook his head. "Memorial Day Weekend, remember? It'll be a total crapshoot and I wouldn't wish whatever place still has vacancies on anybody." He hesitated only a moment before pointing at the house—the _beach mansion_—with his chin. "Stay the night, Beckett. We've got three guest bedrooms, and there's nothing better for a good night's sleep than the air out here."

Castle's wave covered the whole bay of upstairs windows, and he grinned boyishly, eyebrow arched and giving her a _Don't be stupid, Beckett_ look. Kate realized she was biting her lip and stopped, digging her fists deeper into her pockets.

"Castle…"

"C'mon. It'll be my turn to cook breakfast. It's the least I can do."

Alexis nodded, tucked against his shoulder. "Please, Detective Beckett?"

Kate caved. She could resist Castle looking at her hopefully—she'd had lots of practice—but whatever was going on with Alexis she didn't want to add to the girl's guilt-trip over dragging her out here.

She gave her a smile. "Do _any_ Castles take no for an answer?"

Castle laughed. "Her baby-blues are lethal weapons, detective. They should be registered."

"I can believe it. Lead the way, you two."

Alexis darted back to the car and grabbed her backpack. Kate pulled her overnight bag out of the back seat, and they followed Castle inside.

The house was _gorgeous_, New England style with dark hardwood floors and bright white walls, wainscoting and smooth trim. Track lights in the halls lit framed art, but if she had to Kate would bet that most of the pieces came from impulse-buys at art festivals instead of pricy galleries. Some of them made her snort, pure Castle, like the art-deco rendering of a _Forbidden Planet_ poster. Or Marvin the Martian as the Emperor Napoleon.

"I told Gina not to wait up," Castle told Alexis as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. "But she was worried, too. You owe her an apology, little girl." He'd taken her pack and she leaned against him, the two of them above Kate on the stairs.

"Okay, Dad. Sorry."

"We'll talk about this tomorrow, sweetheart, when we're both bright-eyed and bushy tailed." At the top of the stairs, he looked back at Kate. "Wait right here?"

She nodded and he turned Alexis down the hall to the right. It had a shorter hall, and she imagined it led to the master suit. Castle guided Alexis through the closer door, shutting it behind them. Kate smiled at the bronze plaque on the door: _Lexi's Room_.

It opened less than a minute later as Castle slipped back out, closing it softly.

"When did she get too old to be called Lexi?" Kate whispered.

"Somewhere around ten. But she won't let me change the plate." He ran his hands through his hair, shook it off to smile at Kate. "C'mon."

She followed Castle down the left hall, past the first, closed, door. He waved her through the second.

"Mi casa es su casa."

Despite her nerves and tiredness, Kate's lips curved up at the poorly hidden pun.

"So you're my castle?" _Oh, shit._ She took a quick breath; she was _too_ tired.

Castle straightened and opened his mouth, but obviously thought better of it even though his eyes sparkled. Kate let her breath out, relieved. After all this time she had no excuse for making it so easy, and she was surprised but grateful that he'd passed on the opportunity for one of his patented Castle-innuendos.

His smile faded but didn't completely disappear from his eyes, and he shook his head.

"Goodnight, Beckett."

He closed the door as softly as he'd closed Alexis', and Kate stared at it for a moment.

_Okay_…

She looked around. The guestroom wasn't _that_ small. It kept the New England theme, with a thick throw-rug over the wood floor to pamper a guest's feet on a cold morning. She looked in the bathroom and sucked in another breath. The tiled room boasted a beautiful, deep, claw-footed tub, and for one _long_ moment she was severely tempted; if taking a soak now wouldn't be risking her life by drowning, she'd fill it up and crawl in until her skin was pruny. _No, Katie-girl_.

Laying her toiletries out, she hung her spare shirt and pants in the wardrobe, put her socks and underwear away in the dresser, changed into her tank and shorts. The high, four-poster bed's sheets were Egyptian cotton. Of course they were.

Crawling in, she stopped and dug for her cellphone. Even with everything, she couldn't believe she'd almost forgot.

5-1-7, Captain Montgomery's shield number. He would let it go to voice mail.

He didn't, and Kate blinked.

"Detective?"

"Captain? I'm sorry to be calling so late—"

"I'm in my study, detective. What can I do for you?"

"I just needed to tell you I'm out of town after all, sir. I won't be available if a body drops."

He "hmmmd" on the other end. "And where are you, Beckett? If it's a _real_ emergency."

Kate opened her mouth, shut it, closed her eyes.

"The Hamptons, sir. Castle's. It's not what you think." What _could_ he think? She held her breath.

"Oh, I'm sure of _that_, detective. Ryan and Esposito can cover for you if anything happens. In fact, it doesn't matter if you come back tomorrow—I don't want to see you until Wednesday. You've been working too hard lately, and I don't want my best detective burning out."

"Sir—"

"That's an _order_, detective. Goodnight." He hung up, leaving Kate sputtering at her phone.

_Well that's just_… She put her face in her hands, pushed her hair back. Knowing the captain's sneaky sense of humor, he'd tell Kevin and Javier why she wasn't in Tuesday even if she drove back to town tomorrow. She'd be hearing about it from the pair for_ever_. Or until she shot one of them. The Discharge of Firearm paperwork would be worth it.

But the sheets felt _so_ good and she was _so_ tired. Setting the phone on the bedside table, she wiggled her way down into their cocooning embrace, sighed, and closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>Alexis woke up and stretched, before remembering what she'd <em>done<em> and sitting bolt-upright. The soft cry of gulls outside confirmed it and she fell back onto her pillow, not sure whether to laugh or scream.

_I can't believe I did it_. _I did it! And Dad's going to _kill_ me._

A new, truly horrible thought jerked her back up, and she threw off the covers. Beckett had agreed to spend the _night_; what if she decided to sneak out early, before it could possibly get awkward? Racing out of her room, she thundered down the stairs—catching herself on the bannister at the bottom when she smelled the frying bacon. If Dad was already cooking, he wouldn't let Beckett get by him without a fight. _Okay. Good_.

She straightened her shoulders and marched herself to the kitchen. Maybe there was time for her and Dad to "talk" about yesterday before Kate and Gina came down. If she learned her punishment first, she'd be able to focus on what to do next.

It wasn't Dad in the kitchen.

"Detective Beckett?"

Kate looked up from the stove. The counter in front of her was covered with neatly organized breakfast fixings, including a stack of Belgian waffles and a bowl of strawberries.

"Morning, Alexis. How are you doing?"

"I— What are _you_ doing?"

"What's it look like?" She laughed and shook her head at Alexis' slowness. "It's tradition. The one who stays over, cooks breakfast."

"Really."

"Uhuh. Your dad started it at my place with pancakes. You guys are _much_ better stocked. And I really think you should call me Kate when I'm not armed."

Alexis wasn't at all sure how to handle this smiling, happy Beckett, but—

"Kate? Really?"

"Your grandmother already calls me Katherine."

"Okay… You know, Dad's not going to be happy."

"Not happy about what?" her dad said behind her and she jumped. "Oh. Breakfast again?"

"Dad! Don't _do_ that!" Then she shrieked as he pulled her in and tickled her.

"Beckett," he said over her head, ignoring her giggling screams, "I'm pretty sure you're violating some pretty stiff laws of hospitality. A repeat offender."

"You started it, Castle."

"Point." He finally let Alexis go and she pushed away, gasping and giggling. _Kate_ rolled her eyes at her, sharing an expression that said something conspiratorial about dads. Alexis tried not to hope too much, but it was hard; Kate looked like she didn't _hate_ being here…

"Beckett," Dad said, still behind her. "I'm going to kidnap my daughter for a moment—but I'm coming for that bacon." He smiled down at Alexis, but jerked his head towards the den. She swallowed and looked at Kate, who watched with a smile of sympathy.

"Gina might be down, but she's not a morning person," Dad said to Kate before turning to nudge Alexis through the door. She went reluctantly.

"Dad…"

He closed the door. "You understand that you scared the hell out of me yesterday, sweetheart?"

"I'm sorry Dad, I—"

"Just tell me why you did it, first. Then we'll discuss what to do about it."

Alexis dropped into the leather desk chair, folded her hands and twisted them. She'd thought about what she was going to say all the way from New York, and she took a few breaths.

"I— I realized I just couldn't miss the tradition. The fireworks? The first barbeque of the year? It's supposed to be family. I'm sorry, Dad."

He gave her a long look, tried to keep it stern but his smile showed his dimple and Alexis felt sick. She opened her mouth again. _Shut up shut up shut up shut up. _This was what she'd _wanted_.

Finally he nodded. "Alright. But you could have _called_, Alexis. I'd have sent someone for you. I'm sure you can think of all the panic you caused, and not just here. I called the program directors last night, but I'll bet Princeton's preemptively firing somebody right this moment. Your program advisor maybe. And anything could have— You can't just _do_ things like this, Alexis."

"I know."

"Alright. As to your punishment, I ought to have Beckett take you back to town to spend Memorial Day alone in the Loft but I can't do that to either of you and you've shown me you can't be trusted on your own, yet. So now I won't. Here's the deal. You might have thought about going back to the summer program after this weekend. Not going to happen. And forget about any trips with Paige and her family, you're sticking with me for the rest of the summer. When school starts, well, we'll talk about trips then. Get it?"

She nodded, blinking. "Got it."

"Good." He wiped the tears at the corner of her eyes. "Now give me a hug and let's go make nice with Beckett. We both owe her big-time."

* * *

><p>Kate finished the bacon and started on the eggs, wondering which awkward moment she was going to experience first: Gina coming down stairs, or Castle and Alexis coming back. Maybe fixing breakfast hadn't been such a good idea, but the truth was she hated accepting Castle's obligatory hospitality—she'd hated it when he'd taken her home after her apartment blew up, imposing her on his family, and here she was again, back in a family-only situation.<p>

"All finished."

Her eyes snapped around, and Castle and Alexis were trooping back from wherever they'd gone to. Alexis' eyes looked a little wet and the girl was flushed, but she smiled at Kate and Castle didn't look upset.

"Discipline over and done?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"I'm grounded till the end of the summer," Alexis said, but she didn't sound too bad. A daddy-daughter accord seemed to have been reached.

"I could loan your dad some precinct shackles if he thought it would help, young lady," Kate found herself saying. "I was ready to put out a BOLO and track your credit card for him when you knocked on my door."

Castle's eyes widened, and she winced. Too far? Then he grinned like an urchin. "Could I have them anyway? They'd be great for Boba Fett." _Whaaat?_

"Daaaaad…" Alexis rolled her eyes, daughterly embarrassment at parental silliness restoring things to proper balance.

The girl sighed and leaned against the counter. "Dad has a life-size Boba Fett in his bathroom in the Loft."

"Really?" Kate couldn't keep the grin off her face. Castle was such a _boy_.

"Good morning, Kate," Gina said from the door. The pan in Kate's hand wobbled before she tightened her grip. Weren't wood floors supposed to _creak_? It was like being stalked by friendly ninjas.

"You're cooking. Why?"

"Tradition," Castle said, before Kate could open her mouth to recycle the silly explanation she'd given Alexis. "Just roll with it."

Gina shrugged delicately, looking past Kate at the coffee pot. Apparently she really _wasn't_ a morning person. At least she didn't seem surprised that Kate was here—Castle had certainly told the woman she was bringing Alexis out before she had gone up to bed.

_And Alexis has already destroyed any plans of a romantic holiday for her and Castle_, Kate's inside-voice noted. She choked, turned it into a cough. She _wasn't_ here to try and wreck whatever Castle and his ex had going. When Castle looked concerned she pointed at the bacon. "Went down wrong."

Castle snatched a piece of bacon for himself before she could think to stop him.

"Ouch. Worth it," he said, sucking air to cool his mouth.

"So set the table and you can burn yourself some more, Castle."

"C'mon, Dad." Alexis started grabbing plates. They spent the next few minutes moving around each other as Kate put the finishing touches on the eggs and Alexis and her father gathered up the fixings, pepper, butter, syrup, orange juice, ketchup— Kate looked at the red bottle and shuddered. They weren't… Castle _was_; once they'd sat and started passing things around he dumped a big blob of ketchup in his eggs while Kate tried not to gag. Gina shared a _look_ with her while she buttered her toast. Right, a year and change of marriage meant she would have gotten used to the appalling sight at the breakfast table.

"Two words," Gina said. "Steak sauce."

"Hey!" Castle protested. "No impugning breakfast genius."

Alexis snorted, forkful of eggs halfway to her mouth, and Castle pouted at the united female disapproval around him.

"Just for that, I'm fixing you ladies my special burger topping tonight."

"Castle—"

"No buts. I might not be able to keep you till tomorrow night, but you're getting the Castle family treatment tonight. It's the least we can do."

"A _bed_ was the least you could do—"

Castle was shaking his head. "Tell her, 'lexis."

"Please, Detect— Kate?"

Oh, now that just wasn't fair. She looked at Gina, but the woman just looked amused and resigned. Kate supposed Castle's ex-wife and current publisher/publicist could crack the whip over him to write after she left.

She glared at Castle. "Fine." Did Alexis just jump in her chair?

"A gracious surrender, Beckett," Castle smirked, taking a big bite of dripping red egg. Kate closed her eyes against the sight, covering her inside-groan. What had she just done?

_Am I crazy? I have to be crazy._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Authors Note: I thought Chapter One was a bit angst-ridden for a story that's supposed to be humorromance, but needed to establish the backstory and Kate's frame of mind. From here on it should be more fun (other than for the victim-this is a murder mystery series, after all)._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p><em>It's official. I'm crazy.<em>

Kate looked over her limited wardrobe. The casual pants she'd brought and was wearing now weren't beach or pool-worthy. Maybe she could duck out and shop? They'd driven through a baker's dozen of Long Island's little townships last night, boutique-lined streets.

_Wow, Castle, you're really working hard to see me in a swimsuit._

_If you're not comfortable in a swimsuit, you can just skinny dip._

Um, no. For just a moment she let herself wonder what might have happened if she'd taken him up on his offer. Gina wouldn't be here now, but Alexis would be—Castle would have paid for a driver to get her out here from town if Kate hadn't been there. And it wasn't like she'd really have taken Castle up on his suggestion she swim in her birthday suit!

Right?

There was a knock on her door, and Alexis peeked in.

"Kate?"

"Hey, Alexis. What's up?"

The girl came all the way in, arms full of clothing. She dumped the pile on the bed. "We get a lot of drop-byes in the summer," she explained. Paula, guys with review pages, Patterson, Cannall. Dad keeps a closet full of these."

The pile turned out to be a collection of pool shirts and pants and draw-string beach shorts of different sizes. Even a few pairs of boating shoes.

"Thank you, Alexis. This is perfect."

"And Gina brought a bunch of swimsuits—she says she might have one or two that would work for you."

"I—okay, I'll go find her. Thank you."

Alexis nodded, but didn't step back. "So... Are we okay?"

"Okay?"

"About last night. I shouldn't have—I dragged you out here..."

Kate sighed, worrying her lip. Alexis stood wringing her hands, ants in her pants, and it was none of Kate's business but this was the girl Castle had trusted her to take care of if anything ever happened to him. Admittedly he'd been suffering from the insane conviction he was under a _mummy's curse_, but he'd made Kate take him seriously anyway. There probably wouldn't be a better time.

"You're right, Alexis, you shouldn't have. And I'm not talking about our drive." She dropped to the bed, ignoring the clothes to pull Castle's daughter down beside her. "You know what I see every day as a detective, Alexis. Well, as a uniform I saw a lot of situations with kids who went where they shouldn't have, too."

"I was safe! I used my card to call a cab—"

"I know, and I'm sure you wouldn't have done anything you thought was risky. But, being off the reservation, nobody knowing where you'd gone... Sweety, if _anything_ had happened, gone wrong, you'd have been without backup. Nobody would have known what happened to you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Alexis nodded, wide-eyed, and then to Kate's surprise the girl scooted closer and hugged her.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Promise."

Kate patted her back. "Okay then. So help me sort through all this and find something?"

She found some short-pants and a pullover that fit pretty well, and a pair of boating shoes that didn't pinch. Gina came upstairs and took her into her room—the room beside Kate's on the guest-end of the hall. Whatever Castle and Gina's intentions when they left for the Hamptons, Kate would bet that Gina had moved in here as soon as they knew Alexis was coming out. For all Castle's talk, when it came to his daughter and what went on around her he was surprisingly straight-laced; he wouldn't expose her to ex-sex.

Which Kate told herself again she had _no _business being happy about, especially with Gina being so nice about everything.

"How about this one?" Castle's ex didn't go in for underwire suits, and three adjustable bikinis looked like they might fit. She held up a decently modest purple one, eyeing Kate's hips. "God, what I could wear with your body."

Kate laughed. "If I didn't work out all the time, I'd be a plump plushy."

"With your height and bones? I don't think so. Between the two of us, Rick isn't going to know what hit him."

"Gina..."

"Hush. And enjoy the weekend."

"I'm going back tomorrow—"

The blonde shrugged elegant shoulders. Kate liked her own height, but Castle's more petite ex made her feel _big_.

"I doubt it." She smiled to show it was okay. "Bet you a photo-op? You keep turning us down and Black Pawn could really use more than just that Cosmo interview."

"Yeah, no," Kate mimicked Castle, smiling back. "It's bad enough, the ribbing I get at the precinct over your covers. Couldn't you give Nikki more than a naked black silhouette? For me?"

"Sorry, I have no leverage with the art department. Kate, I don't know what you're thinking about Rick and me, but...did you know he and Meredith still occasionally hook up?"

Kate sucked in a breath, laughed before she could stop herself. "I know! His deep-fried Twinkie?"

"That's it. Look, Rick likes his girls and when he's not being a child we like him. For all his faults he's the best ex to have—he certainly beats my first. Brian and I arrange to never be on the same continent, or at least in the same time zone. And when Rick's _on_, well he can be a lot of fun—so after our long phone call the other night I wondered if we could be friends with benefits. _Good _benefits, and it would certainly make our professional relationship easier. Now..."

She gave Kate the eye. "It's not like any of us are going to get any action now. So, is it a bet?"

Kate studied Gina for a long moment, shook her head. "A bet goes two ways. If I'm back home on Memorial Day, what do I get?"

Gina laughed. "I'll talk to the art department. But no promises."

"Deal."

* * *

><p>When Kate tried on the purple suit it pinched a bit, but it was hardly the worst "borrow" she'd ever made. Alexis had told her the schedule: poolside lunch with sandwiches and swimming, poolside barbeque in the evening—no swimming because her dad would get distracted by the fun and burn the meat.<p>

Kate didn't think it would be the "fun" distracting Castle tonight, but didn't say so to Alexis—the code of adult silence. She slipped a big pool shirt on over the suit and went downstairs.

Where she found Castle "making sandwiches" in the kitchen, slicing meat and cheese on a powered blade.

"Wow, Castle. Does the deli know you stole their tools?"

"Did I ever tell you I worked in a deli in college?" He effortlessly sheared off another pile of paper-thin ham slices. "It's where I learned to be good with my hands."

"So it prepared you for life as a serial killer?"

"Hah, hah. Just you wait, Beckett. Best sandwich bar in the Hamptons. So, was Gina able to fix you up?"

"Yes. Disappointed I've got more than my birthday suit?"

He twitched, put down the ham and looked at her. Kate felt her face heat up, but didn't look away. "Payback, Castle," she heard herself whisper. _Katie-girl, what are you doing?_

"That would be the _best_ birthday ever," Castle volleyed back, voice low. His eyes ran down her front to where her legs disappeared beneath the bottom of the pool shirt. "Now, and I mean this in the nicest way, get out of my kitchen Kate."

_Whoa_. Kate nodded and got out, resisting the urge to fan herself.

"Kate! Watch out!" Alexis called.

She barely avoided tripping over the cat. _Cat? _The big gray cat looked at her like she was an idiot, disappeared past her into the kitchen.

"What? Alexis, what was that?" They had a _cat_?

"Graymalkin!" She heard Castle laugh, obviously not talking to her.

"Drat!" Alexis came to a stop beside Kate, breathing hard. "He always gets in, and Dad always feeds him too much."

"And names him after a witch's cat?"

"To bug Grams. The _Scottish Play_? Grams spins around three times every time she sees him."

Kate giggled, unable to stop herself. "So he's not yours?"

"No. We actually don't know who he belongs to. He's got tags, and one of them has an emergency phone number. And another reads 'Not all who wander are lost.'"

"Really?"

"I'm not making it up!" Castle's daughter shrugged, laughing. "I voted for _Gandalf_. The Gray Pilgrim? But Dad overruled me. Anyway, nobody around here claims him but he shows up on Memorial Day Weekend and pretty much owns the beach. We can never keep him out of the house, but a few pieces of something and he's willing to leave quietly."

"And the phone number?"

"Goes to a message service: 'If the damn cat's hurt or under arrest, leave a message. If not, kick him out.'"

"You're serious?" Kate laughed and it felt good.

"Cross my heart, you can try it if you like. Feed him and let him smell your hand and he'll turn into a terrible lap-cat on you until he has to go and kill something."

"No way."

"Say that when you find the dead birds on the balcony. Circle of life."

_This place_. Kate shook her head. Maybe it was the air but she swallowed the last few giggles, feeling lighter than she had in days.

Out of nowhere, Kate remembered a factoid that had always amazed her.

"Alexis, did you know that cats only meow for us? It's talk-to-people language?"

"Huh?" She looked towards the kitchen like she wanted to go grab Graymalkin and verify the claim.

"Yup. Learned it in behavioral psychology. _Kittens_ meow—it's like a baby crying for attention. But they grow out of it, and when adult cats talk to each other it's all purrs or yowls or hisses or rumbles. Adult cats only meow for us, poor deaf humans, and they can build a recognizable talk-to-people vocabulary for their owners. Professor Dante thought it was a great example of adaptive behavior."

"That is so cool!" Alexis laughed with Kate. "We've _got_ to tell Dad—he'll probably make some kind of cat-conspiracy out of it. 'See? They've been guiding human history since the Pharaohs.'" Not a great imitation of Castle, but close enough.

Kate looked back at the kitchen door, smiled. "You tell him, Alexis. I've been banned, so I'm going to go look at the beach."

* * *

><p>The wind off the water wasn't particularly warm, but it didn't raise chills and Kate liked the feel of the sand in her toes. Gulls screamed overhead, and, amazingly, she had the beach to herself. Although she couldn't be sure, it looked like the properties on either side of Castle's were pretty big ones; she saw a couple of jogger's tracks but it obviously wasn't exactly a public stretch of beach.<p>

Dad would like the place, but he was more into lake and stream fishing; their family getaways had been spent in the cabin upstate. Kate reached up, remembered she'd left her mom's ring in the dresser, not wanting to have to worry about it when she stripped off the shirt to swim. She strolled without thinking until the sun said it was noon and she could see Alexis waving, and headed back.

"Hey!" The girl dragged her around the side of the house to the pool, half protected by a white pillared arbor and covered terrace. Castle had set up a long table with drinks and glass-covered plates of bread and sandwich fillings. "Come on!" Alexis said. "We've got to open the pool!" Behind her Castle was laughing and Gina smiling tolerantly.

"Isn't it open?" Kate laughed. It _looked_ open. Clear and still and inviting.

"But it's lucky if you're first! Dad? Gina?"

They shook their heads, but Alexis pressed on. "Kate?"

"Okay, Alexis." She pulled the shirt over her head while Alexis stripped off her shorts. She had to do it sometime, and she couldn't keep herself from sneaking a look at Castle. His stare was warmly gratifying.

"Ready?" Alexis stood in a green one-piece beside her, toes on the edge. "One, two, three, jump!"

Kate screamed and did. When the water went over her head she screamed again. It was _cold_.

Alexis surfaced beside her, laughing along with Castle and Gina. Kate narrowed her eyes at the wretched girl. "You…" she growled and Alexis' eyes widened. She gave a little scream and started back-stroking away. Kate chased her around the pool until her teeth were chattering, and _then_ the girl showed her the heated hot-tub built into the pool's corner.

Oh it felt good.

Castle knelt on the deck and handed her a beer and Alexis a lemonade.

"Can I kill her, Castle? They'll never find the body."

Alexis giggled, rolling her eyes.

"Congratulation, Beckett," Castle laughed. "Only Alexis actually _swims_ this early in the season. The rest of us just catch the sun."

"Castle…"

He held his hands up.

"Hey, be good to me, Beckett or you won't get your sandwich."

"I can get my own damn sandwich."

He smirked. "But I can do it better. You wait."

He went away, and minutes later came back with two plates. Alexis put down her lemonade and dug into her stack. Kate looked at hers suspiciously, then took a bite. _Oh my God_. She closed her eyes and he chuckled above her head. It was _so_ irritating when Castle was right and knew it.

* * *

><p>Kate and Alexis finished their sandwiches and swam some more; it actually felt great to swim in the cold pool until she started to feel it, then switch to the hot-tub to soak until she was sweating and the heat went to her bones.<p>

Gina and Castle caught some sun, Gina laying out in her own suit and reading a book, Castle using his laptop and sneaking peeks at Kate. As the sun started to drop and the wind pick up, they gathered everything up and headed in.

Kate took advantage of the path to get close behind Castle. "You realize I owe you one, Castle," she said softly by his ear. "And not in a _good_ way."

"Looking forward to it, detective," he said without turning around. And then they were inside.

Kate showered and changed into another pool shirt and the drawstring short-pants, slipping on the boating shoes.

Coming back downstairs she found that the group had retreated to their own things for a while; Castle had gone into his den—apparently to polish a few lines he'd typed out down by the pool, because Gina threatened her violent dismemberment if she so much as opened the door. Alexis was surfing the net looking for information on cat behavior, so Kate found one of her favorite Derrick Storm books and tucked into a comfy chair to read. An hour later, Castle emerged to disappear into the kitchen. Gina and Alexis warned Kate away.

"He's assembling his tools," Alexis told Kate. "And we're not welcome. This dinner is his thing."

From the sounds of it, Castle made several trips out to the poolside barbeque as the sun set.

The huge stainless steel barbeque could have burned enough meat for a whole firehouse, and Castle had burgers and kebobs sizzling over the grill when they came down the path. A couple of tabletop gas-burners battled the slight chill in the air where they would sit to eat. With the terrace and bushes blocking the light from the house and the lamps down low, the stars shone above the beach. They could hear the waves on the shore.

Kate took in a deep breath, let it out.

"Wow, Castle. It's beautiful."

"Isn't it?" he said softly, then cleared his throat, looking sideways at Gina talking to Alexis. "Don't tell Alexis, but I'm glad she ran away. I really wanted to show you this."

Kate swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat, looked at Castle in the light of the lamps.

"Castle…"

That's when the bleeding man stumbled out of the shadows and fell into the pool.

* * *

><p><strong><em>And this pretty much finishes part one; I told you there would be a victim. And yes, I'm stealing the mystery from <em>****Murder, He Wrote****_. Why? Because I don't have time to make up my own, and the mystery is just a frame for the Beckett-Castle stuff anyway. However, since Kate isn't trying to be stay incogneto in this alternate-story and there are others involved too, certain misunderstandings will not occur and things will play out a little differently in spots. _**

**_For those who wonder what's up with Gina: I've never considered her a "villain" or an "obstacle," more of an excuse, really, and from what little we see of her in-canon she's actually rather nice; certainly neither Martha nor Alexis seemed to mind her. Also, remember that she's Castle's _****_ex_****_—it didnt' work the first time for a reason, and one long phone conversation does not a renewed relationship make; _****_that_****_ developed over the course of the summer. It seems to me that Gina's motives in accepting Castle's invitation to the Hamptons were pretty much what she told Kate: a chance to improve relations, have some fun, get work done._**

**_Of course, as with all fan-interpretations Your Mileage May Vary. If you disagree, let me know what you think._**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p>"Call 9-1-1!" Castle shouted and jumped in the pool.<p>

"You think?" Kate reached for her hip, realized she wasn't carrying—not her phone, not her gun, not _anything_.

"Gina! Call!" Alexis shouted before running for the house. Kate gave the suddenly dangerous shadows around them one last look before kneeling at the pool edge. The underwater lights showed a spreading red cloud around the victim and Castle didn't try for a rescue carry—ducking under the guy and straightening, he lifted him out of the water and flipped him at the same time. Kate grabbed hold and they rolled him out of the pool to sprawl on the tiles.

"Beckett?" Castle heaved himself out, focused on their bleeding swimmer—well, sinker; he wasn't responsive to any of the pushing around he'd just gotten and, now out of the water and on his back, his soaked shirt was quickly turning red. Kate ripped the button-down open to show three blood-pumping holes high in his chest. She took a deep breath; all of her experience told her that he was going and there was nothing they could do.

"Towels, Castle!"

He bolted past Gina to raid the pool cabinet while Kate applied pressure, listening to the man's thready breath. When Castle dropped a pile beside her she grabbed and quickly rolled the smaller ones, joined hands with Castle to press them into the wounds to try and _slow_ the loss.

Completely useless. It was like Dick Coonan all over again, except she didn't want to save the guy and kill him at the same time.

"At least one of his hits got a major vessel, Castle," she said, talking low. She looked up at Gina, who stared back and kept talking into her phone. Running steps made Kate spin around over their body, and Alexis came dashing out of the shadows of the path with a big white box. She dropped beside them, struggling with the first-aid kit's latch.

"Alexis. Alexis!" When the girl looked up, Kate shook her head. Beneath her and Castle's hands she could feel their victim's heart speed, stutter, stop. "Gina? How long?"

"Eight minutes."

"Alexis, go wait in the driveway. Castle, help me?" She began the ritual of CPR. Breath for him, push, keep pressure, wait for the EMTs to arrive and tell them what she already knew. When she wasn't locking lips with their vic she scanned the shadows, trying to see beyond their circle of light. Hear anything out there over the surf.

* * *

><p>"Who was he?" Castle asked.<p>

Chief Brady looked at Castle, back at Kate. They'd all huddled in the kitchen, Gina and Alexis sitting at the table, Kate and Castle leaning against the sink counter. Castle's arms were folded and he held himself tight. He'd seen bodies before, lots of them, but other than Koonan she didn't think he'd ever seen a person become a body before.

Kate had gotten most of the blood off her hands and arms, but she kept working them with a damp and clean towel.

"Randolph Franklin." Chief John Brady looked white around the mouth, and he kept glancing at his notebook as if seeing the words he'd written would make them real. "He's a homeowner and weekender like you, Mister Castle."

"There were no gunshots," Kate said, putting the towel down. "But he couldn't have come far."

"I'm sorry?" Chief Brady looked back at his notes, up at her. "And you are?"

"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD Homicide. My badge is up in my room."

"Oh. That's…" The chief shook his head. "And you didn't hear anything?"

"None of us did," Castle confirmed. Alexis nodded, then Gina. "Silencer, Beckett?"

"I can't think of anything else. Honestly, Chief Brady—"

"Call me John, please."

"…Chief. Mister Franklin was dying when he fell in the pool. As fast as he was bleeding out, I can't imagine him making it more than a few hundred yards from where he was shot."

Brady nodded. "My officers are checking the beach right now, detective."

"Chief!" They all turned to see two of Brady's men in the back doorway. The young officers—they looked like beach-boys in uniform to Kate—held a half-unconscious man between them. Short ragged beard, stained shirt, slumped and eyes blearily vacant, he looked like a second victim.

"We found him in the tall grass, chief, sleeping it off. With Randolph's wallet on him."

Brady sighed, lips twisting in disgust.

"Well that's it, then. Cassius McMurray. Local meth-head." He closed his notebook, looked at Castle and Kate. "Rich kids, bringing their money and problems from the city. Drug arrests have doubled in the last six months. Sorry about this, folks."

"But—" Castle looked at Kate, back at Chief Brady and their perp. "Really? Did you find the gun? Any blood spatter?"

"I'm sure we will, Mister Castle. We'll get out of your way now—I hope you can enjoy the rest of the weekend. Detective, it was nice meeting you."

Kate nodded automatically, and the chief and his men let themselves out to take their man around the house to their cruisers rather than drag him through the mansion. Silence descended and Kate started counting in her head. 1…2…3…

Castle took two steps and stood behind his daughter. "Alexis, I think it's time for bed."

Kate blinked. _Well, that was unexpected_. But also totally Castle. Her lips curved in a tired smile.

"Your dad's right, Alexis. I can see the adrenalin wearing off—trust me, you're about to crash."

"But Dad—" Alexis widened her eyes, sat up straighter.

"I know. Bed, sweetheart."

"Come on, Alexis." Gina stood up, stretched. "I know _I'm_ done, and I'm sure your father and the detective want to talk about some things."

Alexis' lip stiffened, but she looked at the two of them and caved with a sigh. "Alright. Dad…"

"I know. C'mere." She stood and stepped into his hug. He kissed her forehead and pushed her towards the door. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

He watched Alexis go, tiny shoulders already slumping again. Gina stayed in the kitchen doorway to watch them, but she might as well have been invisible to Castle. He turned to Kate.

"She's been checking my work since her grammar got better than mine. Some of it pretty graphic, but…"

Kate nodded. "You'll check on her later?"

"Oh yeah, but—Beckett, this doesn't make sense!"

"Really?" She kept the smile off her face; _now_ Castle was on.

"You saw Franklin! Three shots, close grouping, and a _stoner_ did that on a high? Then what? Lost the gun, kept the wallet, decided to take a nap in the grass? And we didn't hear anything! A silencer says premeditation, and nobody gets buzzed _before_ making a hit but no way McMurray shoots Franklin, decides to celebrate _right there_…what?"

Kate couldn't help the laugh. "C'mon Castle. I've worn a detective's shield for five years, you think I didn't think of that?"

"But Chief Brady—"

"He's a small-town cop, Castle. I'm sure he's good at his job, but I'm willing to bet the last body dropped out here before he won election. So what do _you_ think happened?"

"I think the shooter met Franklin on the beach—"

"Good place for a quiet conversation, nobody around."

"Right. Maybe by the water-line, the tide will erase any footprints. He brought the silencer, pops Franklin…"

Kate nodded. "Franklin falls, our shooter pockets the gun, jogs back up the beach."

"But Franklin gets up, staggers off the beach and through the grass—"

"Right over McMurray, sleeping it off—"

Castle slapped the counter. "Where his wallet falls out—"

"McMurray doesn't know who kicked him, but pockets the wallet and goes back to sleep…"

"Until Chief Brady's boys find him! It's a solid story, Beckett—McMurray is the initial and obvious suspect who always turns out to be the wrong guy. Chief Brady has the wrong guy."

"So he'll figure that out when they check for spatter and residue. Not our job, Castle."

"But Beckett!"

"Rick…" They turned to look at Gina, arms folded by the door.

"Gina—"

"Kate's right, Rick. Not her jurisdiction, and you're here to _write_."

He opened his mouth, and Kate held on to her laugh as writer-boy choked on the fact that he couldn't just jump into a Hamptons murder investigation. _No mayor out here who's your poker-buddy, Castle?_

"Relax, Castle. Chief Brady may have to take a few extra steps, but I'm sure he'll get there. And he knows the players out here, it's his territory—he's a lot more likely to figure it out than we are. I vote for bed."

Castle opened his mouth _again, _eyes bright as Kate realized what she'd said, but then his gaze shot to Gina. _Thank you, Castle._

He swallowed whatever comeback he'd been about to deliver, though Kate would bet he'd remember and use it later. Castle practically wrote lines in his head to drop when he felt the moment, like little witty gifts for her to roll her eyes at.

In the doorway, Gina _did_ roll her eyes. A year and change of being Mrs. Castle, however it ended, and Kate was sure the smart woman had developed her own Castle-telepathy.

"Check on Alexis, Rick. And we big girls need our beauty sleep, too." She stepped back into the hall and Kate followed, effectively shutting down the conversation.

"Good night, Castle."

* * *

><p>This time Kate <em>did<em> use the tub. The guest bathroom stocked bath oils, and even candles like a luxury resort hotel. Castle's Hamptons home was really designed for a house-party, family and friends for a weekend or a week. Closing her eyes and sinking back, she could almost picture it—a crowded house, games on the lawn and beach, evenings with company in the big living room downstairs, a modern _Pride and Prejudice_ house party that stretched into warm weeks.

It could be Netherfield—Castle was far more Bingham than Darcy. The thought made her smile sleepily before she frowned.

Which made her what? Jane? Hardly. And Castle was practically the anti-Darcy but he was hardly the brooding man's charming and easy-going friend. Kate had wanted to shoot Castle so often when he'd first pushed himself into her territory.

Only a flesh wound, in an arm or leg, maybe, but he'd made her so mad, been so infuriating… _I'm not asking for the bodies, detective, just the pictures…_

When had that changed, exactly? When had she started to enjoy building theory with the man? At least when his suspect list didn't include secret agents. Or vampire-slayers. And there were those moments when she saw how good he was with Alexis—which she'd never have guessed at and he'd always drop some stupid comment—_It makes you want me, right?_—whenever she'd admit to admiring him for it.

She had to get out of here. However nice Gina was being, she was intruding; Castle had brought his ex out here because Kate had stupidly ignored what was happening, even pushed him away. She closed her eyes, remembering the other morning and the wrench she'd felt when Castle had walked into the precinct with only _one_ coffee; because he'd assumed that Demming was bringing her coffee now. Made on _Castle's_ espresso machine.

Looking back on today it amazed her that she'd managed to put it all away, enjoy herself around Castle—it helped that Gina wasn't making eyes at him with Alexis around, but she'd have thought she'd need the whole summer to reconcile herself with her and Castle being Just Friends. And she wanted that, really; she'd lost her shot at him, but if she could get it together they'd be able to build theory and share coffee again. She wouldn't see him and Gina together around the precinct.

Kate lay her head back, breathing deep and letting the warmth of the bath soak in.

Her house party ended in the morning, and then she could wait. Till the end of the summer.

_**Bit of a short chapter today, but the natural break came on this beat. Hope everyone kept up through the suddenly-serious pool scene and this last bit. I promise to get back to the humor. Meanwhile, will Beckett manage to get out of the Hamptons? Will Chief Brady shoot Castle? Will Graymalkin recover from the feast the Castles left out by the pool?**_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p>Alexis wanted Monkey Bunky, and would die before admitting that to anybody. Dad and Kate had been right—she'd barely been able to keep her eyes open by the time the adults had sent her to bed. But she didn't stay asleep; she kept starting awake to stare at her alarm clock, watching the hours creep. When the sun started to light her room she gave it up.<p>

She brushed her teeth, sent a Happy Memorial Day text to Julie. After her dad's talk about her running away—_running to_?—and how many people she'd scared, she'd made a list and called to apologize while Kate walked the beach yesterday. Their floor's student advisor, the program director (and she'd been relieved to find that, no, nobody had been fired), but especially Julie. Julie was _nice_, and Alexis felt especially bad about how much it must have freaked her out to have her roommate up and disappear. Julie's relief and concern had made Alexis feel _more_ guilty, but then her ex-roommate surprised her by texting her later. Snippets about the program, smiley faces. It looked like she had a new text-buddy.

Looking out at the beach and wondering if she should text anything about last night, Alexis frowned.

The morning shadows were still long, but someone was already out on the beach. Her heart almost jumped into her throat until she realized there were at least three out there, on the beach and in the grass, and they were in uniform. _What… _

Getting downstairs without stopping to throw anything on over her pajamas, Alexis stopped in the living room and advanced on the open veranda doors. Outside, her dad stood talking to Chief Brady. The chief had his hat off and was waving it at the beach. Her dad said something, and the chief nodded. Nodded again. He put his hat back on and stepped down to the lawn, heading for the sand. Behind him, her dad pumped his fist, turned and froze.

"Alexis?"

"Dad? What did you do?"

He scooted inside, closing the door and looking behind her. "Is Beckett up yet? No?" He dropped into the patterned sofa. "You're up early."

Alexis sat on the cushion beside him, drew her feet up to hug her knees. Her dad looked her over and opened his arms.

"C'mere, sweetheart."

Alexis scooted over and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders to pull her in. He kissed the top of her head, tucked her in beneath his chin.

"Didn't sleep well?"

She nodded. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Look at dead people all the time? See what happened to them? It's just…"

"Awful? I know."

"So, how do you do it? How does Detective Beckett do it?"

He squeezed her tight for a long moment.

"After a while…you understand that a body isn't a person. The _person_, they're gone. To the Undiscovered Country, to whatever happens next. What's left is a puzzle to be solved. That's what Beckett does, sweetheart. She solves puzzles. She speaks for the dead, gets justice for them since they're not here anymore to speak for themselves."

"It's still awful."

"I know. I saw my first body when I wasn't much younger than you. About as messy, too."

"Really?" Alexis pushed herself up. "I never knew that!"

"Someday I'll tell you about it." He pulled her back down. "But not today."

She nodded against his chest, sighed. But— "Dad?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Are you conspiring with Chief Brady?"

"Busted."

"To keep Kate out here?"

"Do you approve?"

"Dad…" She hid her face in his shoulder.

"Lexis, what did _you_ do?"

She pushed herself up again. "What? Nothing—"

"Give your father some credit, sweetheart. You should be reading me the riot act for going behind Beckett's back." He smirked, chuckling.

"You're my Jiminy Cricket. Which leads your brilliant father to deduce you're feeling guilty about something yourself. Throw no stones and all that jazz. Do I have to tickle it out of you?"

"Dad!" Alexis squirmed as his fingers found her ribs. "Okay! Okay!"

"So you waive your right to council?"

"Yes! Yes! Stop!"

"Sing, little bird."

"Roughing up the suspect, Castle?" Kate said from the hall.

"Kate!" Alexis sat up fast, hands over her mouth.

"Morning, Alexis." Kate was fully dressed and wearing her leather jacket. She held her bag, and Alexis spun to look at her dad. He just smiled and shrugged.

"I beat you to the kitchen, Beckett. You're not leaving without trying my world-conquering omelets." He stretched, stood. "Relax. It's all set up, and you'll get back in plenty of time to coordinate your socks or whatever you need to do before tomorrow."

"And what if I like a quiet, early drive?"

"The road to town will be dead until noon. Trust me."

Alexis held her breath as Kate waffled, obviously wanting to go but not wanting to be rude about it.

"Mmm," she said. "Should I trust your father, Alexis?"

"I—" _Not in a million years!_ She _couldn't_ say that—Kate would be _gone_.

Her dad waggled his finger at her. "Say nothing without you attorney present. C'mon Beckett, breakfast, most important meal of the day. And again, omelets you won't believe."

"Oh I'm sure of that, Castle." But she dropped her bag. Alexis heaved a silent breath of relief.

* * *

><p>Kate stared at the flaming omelet on her plate. <em>Now that's new<em>.

"Castle? My omelet is on fire."

"Isn't it _great_? Give it a minute and blow it out; the brandy will glaze the sugar."

"No, really?" She rolled her eyes, but counted silently, trying not to laugh, and blew.

"C'mon, Beckett," Castle said as she eyed her extinguished breakfast. "You're a decorated detective, you can do it."

She sighed, shot a wistful glance at Alexis' _normal_ omelet, rolled her eyes again.

"You realize this could create an adverse sensory memory to remember the Hamptons by, right?"

Castle just grinned mischievously, leaned forward across the counter. "Beckett. Trust me." He was such a child. Kate shook her head, sliced off a forkful, stabbed it, held it up to examine. The gourmet cheese and oil-fried herbs inside didn't fill her with confidence either.

His smile widened, deepening his dimples and narrowing his eyes, and she kept her own lips straight.

Okay… She popped the questionable forkful in her mouth before she could wise up, chewed carefully. Stopped.

"Kate?" Alexis said anxiously, reaching to hand her a napkin.

"Oh, my…" She finished chewing. "Castle, this is the most—it's…" She sliced off another forkful. Beside her, Alexis sighed so hard she deflated on her stool.

"And now you are my slave, bwa-ha-ha!" Castle cackled like a caffeine-tripping mad scientist. "For only I, Beckett, only _I_ know the secret ingredients of this mind-blowing substance! Only the first sample is free." He grabbed for her plate and she stabbed his reaching hand. "Ow!"

"Hands-off, writer-boy. Touch it and you die horribly."

"You wouldn't."

"Your fans will wear black. Talk sense into your dad, Alexis."

"Dad…"

There was a knock at the outside door and Castle dropped the clowning to open it. Kate blinked to see Chief Brady standing on the veranda, holding his hat.

"Good morning everyone." He nodded at them all, saw that they were eating breakfast.

"Would you like some, chief?" Castle offered.

"No, but thank you. I've already eaten." He looked at Kate. "Detective? Do you have a moment?"

Kate looked at Castle and Alexis, put down her fork. "Sure." She wiped her lips with a napkin to keep from licking them, pushed away from the counter with a last threatening glare at Castle, then thought better of it and grabbed her plate to join the chief outside.

"Detective—" He looked at the plate.

"Don't ask."

"Okay." He turned his hat in his hands. "Detective, I'd like to thank you for your advice last night. And…" He squared his shoulders. "McMurray isn't our shooter."

"I knew it!" Castle said right behind her. "How did you know?"

"Castle…"

The chief smiled. "It's okay, detective." He shook his head. "The truth is, we can't find the gun. We've combed the beach and the grass up and down the shore, and it's not here. And McMurray tested clean for gunpowder residue. And—"

"There's something else, chief?"

"We're a one-doc medical examiner's office out here, detective, but for a shooting, and after what you said last night, I got Bronson out of bed. He has to send the clothing and samples to town for analysis, but he called me this morning to tell me that Mister Franklin took a swim in the ocean yesterday. After he was shot."

Kate blinked. "That's not… How cold's the water, chief?"

"Shrinkage!" laughed Castle. "The cold water slowed the bleeding. He got shot and dumped off-shore, swam in, saw our lights and tried to get to help!"

She nodded. "And that's why we didn't hear the gunshots."

Chief Brady nodded agreement, turned his hat some more. "Detective, half the residents and most of the weekenders have boats."

"And then there's all the private docks," Castle added happily.

"Yes, there's that. The truth is—" the chief gripped his hat. "Detective, I'd be very grateful if you could help out. We handle speeders and partying weekenders, not much else. We certainly don't have a homicide detective—I've never even pulled my gun, outside the range. I've spoken to your captain, Captain Montgomery? He tells me you're the best. He also said to tell you that you're on vacation, but if you agree to help out then you'll be on detached assignment until we close the case. Detective? We could sure use your help."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Admit it-you thought Castle was going to feed Beckett a <span>smorelet<span>. The shortest chapter so far, but I couldn't pick a better spot and reality (in the form of my professional writing deadlines) intrudes. As a note: I am assuming (realistically, I think) that Chief Brady would have acted faster in _****Murder, He Wrote****_ had he not dismissed Kate as a call-girl. Add Castle's desperation to keep Beckett in the Hamptons... the scenes practically write themselves._**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p>"C'mon, Beckett! One last case!"<p>

Alexis watched both of them, had been since Kate had told Chief Brady she'd think about it and call him after breakfast. Gina had finally come down, and had joined Alexis' debate-watch once Castle's daughter filled her in.

"You said the last case was the last case, Castle. You don't get that one twice."

"But Beckett!" Castle looked down at her clean plate. "There will be an Amazing Omelet every morning!"

Kate watched her partner, looking for tells. Could he have…? _Maybe_. This _was_ Castle; the question wasn't could he have roped in Chief Brady, it was would he have thought of it.

"So? C'mon, we can't keep him wondering."

"We? Because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one he asked. Aren't you here to write?"

"Beckett…"

"Whining? Really?" Kate laughed, caught herself. She was doing it _again_. Letting herself be argued around. Why? She puffed out a breath. "Castle, really. Why do you want me here?"

"Because— C'mon Beckett, a body in my back yard? This is so _Murder, She Wrote_—it would be a crime to let this go!"

Kate gave him her You're Kidding look. "That's what you're going with? An homage?"

"Beckett—"

"Fine, Castle. Fine. For omelets and the sake of Angela Lansbury."

"Yes!" Castle pumped his fist, straightened and tried to look serious.

"Then I'm going home this morning," Gina spoke up, taking another bite of her own Amazing Omelet.

"Gina—" Kate turned.

"Seriously, Kate." Gina waved her fork. "I came out here to get Rick to work, but I know how long these things can take—and I know Ricky won't get any writing done until it's over."

"I wrote ten pages yesterday—" Castle protested.

"Bravo, Ricky. But you know how this works. So 'help' Kate close the case—maybe it will inspire you. And call me when it's over. I'll call a cab." She took a last bite, put down her fork. "Kate? I'll call you about the photo-op. Alexis? It was nice."

Alexis started, stammered, and accepted a quick but tight hug.

An uncomfortable silence reigned in the kitchen when Gina left. Finally Castle took off his apron, tossed it on a chair.

"I'll— I'll just go see if she needs me to do anything."

Kate watched him leave, heard his fast steps on the stairs. She blinked at Alexis, who for some unknowable reason was flushing and looking at her plate.

_Okay, what just happened? _

* * *

><p>Chief Brady was almost embarrassingly grateful to hear Kate's acceptance, and Castle drove the two of them to the police station. The Hamptons was more Mayberry than Manhattan so the station wasn't that big—single-story, a lockup in the main office where McMurray was still sleeping off last night, a counter separating the public area from the rest. The chief shook her hand as he ushered them by the counter.<p>

"Detective, thank you again for agreeing to do this."

"It's my pleasure, really Chief." She didn't look back at Castle, who choked a bit. Brady did look, and he frowned in puzzlement. She sighed.

"_Castle_ has an arrangement with the NYPD that lets him shadow me. For research, but he's even been useful." Behind her Castle choked again. "Will that be a problem?"

"No. No, not at all." Brady shook his head, collected himself. "Anyway, I've informed Mister Franklin's wife, detective—she didn't come out here with him. Here's what we've got so far." He led them to a desk and handed her a brown file that was too thin for her happiness. She opened it to look at the ME's and ballistics reports, Castle leaning over her shoulder.

"30 caliber?" She furrowed her brow. "Not your normal handgun ammunition. Castle? Something for the class?" He was grinning and bouncing on his toes.

Castle snapped his fingers. "You know what this means, Beckett?"

"No, but you're going to tell me."

"We're looking for a World War Two reenactor!"

Chief Brady blinked.

She wasn't going to laugh. "A Word War Two reenactor."

"Yes! You won't find this bullet in many handguns, Beckett, but it's the favored ammo of the M1 Carbine! It's the semi-automatic carbine that became the standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II—Sergeant Rock stuff! War reenactors love them, and how many can there be in the Hamptons?"

Chief Brady looked at Castle like he was considering a drug-test. Kate bit her lip, kept it in.

"Nothing in the local registry, chief?"

"No." He shook his head. "Sorry, detective. First thing I checked."

"Well, we're probably looking for an AMT Automag Three so we'll know when we find it. Have we found anyone else who was on the beach last night?"

"I've got Jones canvasing the neighborhood, but nothing yet."

"Jones? Just one deputy?" _For a murder?_

Brady ran fingers through his hair. "This is the Hamptons, detective, and it's the holiday—I've got three deputies and the others are keeping a lid on the weekenders in town. Half our department income comes from ticket receipts on these weekends, and the Chamber of Commerce screams if we don't have a presence out there to keep the stupidity down. I could only spare one, and Jones was keen."

Kate blew out her breath, trying not to look judgmental. Not the chief's fault.

"Beckett…" Castle leaned forward by her ear, for her only. "There _is_ one other witness." She could hear the laughter in his voice. _Oh, Castle_.

She couldn't help it; she smiled and it widened. "Chief, there is someone we can question right now."

Brady looked at them blankly. "Who?"

"McMurray!" Kate and Castle said together.

* * *

><p>The station had an interrogation room, with a close-circuit camera instead of a window. Chief Brady had not been thrilled by the suggestion that a hopped-up meth head could be a reliable witness.<p>

"We don't need him to convince a jury, Chief," Kate had explained. "All we want is a lead, and if he remembers anything at all it might mean something."

Now long practice kept her from wrinkling her nose. Castle fanned his face, but Brady looked like he'd had at least as much if not more experience at dealing with smelly detainees than she did from her own days as a uniform.

McMurray looked at them from across the table with bleary eyes.

"Yeah, I saw the boat. Looked like it was being attacked."

"Attacked?" Castle echoed gleefully, obviously dreaming of an assault by amphibious WWII commandoes. Kate bit her lip again.

"Attacked by what?"

"By a shark! It was wild! Big, red eyes."

Big red eyes. She couldn't look at the chief.

Five minutes and too many futile attempts to get anything useful, and they closed the door behind them.

"The shark attacked in our timeline, at least," she sighed, rubbing her brow. "Sorry, Chief."

He nodded. "What now?"

"Now we use our feet. Door to door. Give us a map and show us which way Jones went, and Castle and I will go the other. And I'm going to call the precinct—at the very least we need to question his wife and colleagues, see if this may have followed him from town. My guys can do that."

The chief printed off a Google map for them, drew in Jone's intended route, and walked Kate and Castle to the door with more thanks and another handshake.

"New theory, Beckett," Castle said as they got in his car.

"Okay?"

"Franklin signed up for a shark-safari, got it from friendly fire."

Beckett dropped her head back, closed her eyes. "Drive, Castle."

* * *

><p>It really was a nice day for a walk. Kate loved the smell of the sea, and the breeze played with her hair. They started knocking with the first property west of Castle's, getting answers at most of them even if some were only staff. Kate flashed her badge at each with a "Kate Beckett NYPD, attached to the Hamptons," and she and Castle worked each place.<p>

It was actually kind of fun; a senior detective, Kate didn't do a lot of canvasing anymore, and the people they talked to were…interesting. Half knew Castle from summers past, the other half found being questioned a novelty. And nobody saw anything.

"Enjoying your holiday, Beckett?"

Kate breathed the air.

"You know what? I am."

"And just think—if you'd taken me up on my offer, you'd have had a whole other day to frolic before Franklin landed in the pool."

"Yeah, and there would have been nobody in town to bring Alexis out."

"There is that." The man frowned and suddenly Kate had to know.

"Why did she do it, Castle?"

"Hmm. You know, Kate, the whole last name cop-shop thing is fun for the precinct, but you're on vacation—you can call me Rick."

_Rick._ She'd called him Rick a few times in the beginning, but she was always "Detective Beckett" or "Beckett," part of the whole "tough female detective" package that became Nikki Heat in his head, so she'd stuck to "Castle," one of the boys with Esposito and Ryan. Now she focused on keeping her face straight, giving him a smile with a twist.

"I don't know, Rrrrick. Feels wrong somehow, but I can try."

"And how is 'Kate'? For the holiday. Or do friends call you Katie. Kay-becks! Maddison did."

"Only my dad calls me Katie and you don't look like a girlfriend, Ricky."

"Kate it is, then."

They walked on, crossing the property line to the next estate.

"So, Alexis?"

"Oh yeah." Castle laughed.

"_I _was the one feeling put out that nobody was going to be here for the traditional family weekend, but I guess Alexis caught it too. I still can't believe she was that impulsive, and I'm so glad she thought things through once she'd done it and came to you."

"Mmm." Kate thought as they walked. She wouldn't have believed it either. Not that Alexis wasn't _confident_ enough to do what she'd done—she was a Castle after all. She'd certainly acted properly regretful afterwards, but Kate would have bet she'd have thought it through _before_.

"Kate…" Castle started.

Her phone rang. Esposito.

"Yo, Beckett."

"Hold on, Espo." Kate put the phone on speaker.

"You there too, Castle? How can you find a case in your backyard, man?"

"My Rick Castle superpowers, Espo. And we're having a great—"

"What did you find out?" Kate cut in.

"All work no play, Beckett?"

"Yeah yeah. Talk to us."

"Mister Franklin used to be a wall-street tycoon, with Leman Brothers before he got caught awhile back doing something he shouldn't. Rolled on his buddies to stay out of jail. I'm tracking them down, but I'll send you the files, might be something there."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, Beckett." Ryan came on. "His wife says that he was out there to break up with his girl-friend. Apparently he's got a weekend-girl out there, a Natalia Roosevelt. Mrs. Franklin found out about it, sent him out there to end it."

"Dude," Esposito said. "You think it was the girl? Five gets you ten we're looking at a disgruntled ex-buddy. Want a piece of it, Castle?"

"Are you kidding? I'm a writer, I'll back the femme fatale every day."

Kate smirked. "Yeah, we know Castle. It's a better story. Thanks guys. I'll call Chief Brady and we'll look at it. That it?"

"That's it," Ryan said. "Enjoy your case, Beckett."

Kate hung up, dialed Chief Brady and passed Ryan's message.

"Natalia? You're sure?"

"You know her?"

"Yeah, she's… I'll set up an interview, detective. Two hours?"

"Oooh," Castle said when Brady disconnected. "Someone's not happy."

"It's a small town, Ca—, Rick. Obviously he knows her, and if she's mistress material…"

"Okay, then. Two hours. So." Castle clapped his hands, rubbed them together.

"I vote lunch."

* * *

><p><strong><em>So, there's that... Before I hear screams of "Gina's gone—why isn't Beckett<em>****_doing_** **_anything?" I will remind the audience that, while Kate knows that Gina isn't looking for anything more than a friends-with-benefits relationship with writer-boy (in-canon this intention obviously changes to something more serious by the end of the summer), Kate knows Rick was the one who invited his ex out to the Hamptons for the holiday with the intention of "reconnecting." _****_With his ex_****_. And he didn't seem that happy to see her go._**

**_Kinda thin? Yep. But, and I say this in the nicest way, Kate's a coward when it comes to romantic risk. That's why she went with Demming; he's safe. A_**_**nd, rationally, she doesn't want to blow up her friendship with Castle; **_**_she's not about to make a risky move now that she thinks there's a good chance that his answer will be "I had no idea you felt that way, sorry Beckett."_**

**_Of course Castle deserves a lot of the blame, here; she flat out asked him why he wanted her to stay..._**

**_Meanwhile, I had a lot of fun with this chapter; especially with Castle's usual antics. Next update in a couple of day. As always, comments welcome._**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p>Graymalkin came out of nowhere and followed them up the road without acknowledging their existence.<p>

"Kate? Don't look, but I think we're being tailed."

"Mmm. Think he's in on it?"

"Hey, that's good! He _was_ on the beach yesterday."

Kate bumped his hip. "So are we in trouble, Rick?"

"Not if we feed him. Just don't make any sudden moves. The thing to remember about cats is, if they were bigger, they would eat you."

Kate gave up and laughed. "Good thing I'm armed, isn't it?"

Back at the beach house, they found Alexis waiting for them with salad and wraps.

"Hey guys! Hey Graymalkin! I've salvaged a bunch of meat from yesterday, figure it should do until the hotdogs and smores tonight." Whatever had been bothering her this morning, she was over it.

"My favorite daughter!" Castle hugged her round the shoulders, grabbed a piece of sliced ham and stuffed it in his mouth.

"_Only_ daughter, Dad... Unless there's something you're not telling me?"

"Don't even joke about it! Defend me, Kate."

"Should I? Got a secret wife stashed in Jersey, Rick?"

Castle mimed being stabbed in the heart, dropped some ham for the cat. Alexis sighed.

"You know that isn't good for him, right?" She handed him a full plate, passed one to Kate, and they moved everything from the counter to the kitchen table.

"So, any luck?" she asked once they'd sat down.

"Not yet, sweetheart, but we've got leads. What are you doing this afternoon?"

"I called our pool service and they're coming to change the filters and scrub the pool." She shuddered. "I just couldn't think about swimming in it… Then I was thinking about raiding the Hamptons Library—I've checked their catalogue and they've got some books I want since I'm not going back to Princeton."

"Two words, daughter mine: Memorial. Day."

Kate hid her silent laugh behind her hand. Alexis looked stunned at the thought that a city library _wouldn't_ be open. Or maybe that she'd actually forgotten. The girl sighed.

"Can I come with you guys? When you're not sweating suspects, Kate and I can shop a little—she needs her own swimsuit."

"Yeah, Rick, will you let us girls shop?"

"Do I get to watch you try them on?"

"Dad!" Alexis covered her ears. "Minor child in the room!"

* * *

><p>An hour later, Kate watched Natalia Roosevelt on the interrogation room monitor. The woman was pretty but dressed professionally, the picture of the local but prosperous business woman she apparently was. Kate revised her initial thought about sugar daddies and dumped mistresses—Natalia wasn't a mistress, or at least not a kept one.<p>

She looked at Chief Brady. "Are you ready?"

Brady actually swallowed, but he nodded. "Okay. Chief? This is your station, but I've handled hundreds of interviews. I want you to be her friend in the room, but let me guide the interview?"

He nodded again. "Sure, detective."

"Okay. Castle, Alexis, wait here?" Castle opened his mouth to protest, looked at Alexis and agreed. The chief followed her out of his office and through the interrogation room's open door.

"Ms. Roosevelt?" Kate sat smoothly, putting the file in her hand on the table between them and opening it. Chief Brady sat on her right, putting as much distance between them as their side of the table allowed.

"I'm Kate Beckett, NYPD. Thank you for coming in." She gave Natalia an easy but not effusive smile, speaking softly. "The chief has retained our cooperation with Mister Franklin's homicide investigation, and I need to clear up some questions about Mister Franklin's activities yesterday evening. The chief tells me you saw him last night at a party? Mister Shappiro's?"

Natalia looked at Chief Brady, nodded.

"It was a big party, detective, but yes I saw him."

Kate nodded, made a note.

"And did anyone hear your fight with him?"

The woman started, glared at Brady. "What's this about, John?"

_Bingo_. Checking Franklin's organizer, Chief Brady had turned up the party. Mister Shappiro had confirmed Franklin's presence at his party the previous night, seen him arguing on the beach with a blonde woman in a red dress. Kate had called the local valet service's office, described the car registered to Ms. Roosevelt, asked the valet who parked it what she'd been wearing. Red.

"Just some questions, Natalia." the chief said. He was sweating and Kate frowned, turned it down a notch.

"It's police procedure to question family and friends in any homicide investigation, Natalia. The sooner we check you off our list, the sooner we can look in the right place. We understand that Mister Franklin went to Mister Shappiro's party to break up with you?"

This time she didn't start, but she looked at the chief again and her shoulders sagged a bit. Mmm, local bar owner keeps a semi-serious flirtation with the local police chief? Yeah.

Natalia sighed, lips twisting.

"Yeah, we fought. I told him to go to hell—bastard only started it with me because he wanted my council vote."

"Excuse me?" Kate folded her hands over the file. "Council vote?"

"Yeah, my vote. He built a fancy helipad on his property six months ago, but didn't get a variance for it. He needed a retroactive variance from the City Council."

"Can anyone vouch for what you said to each other, Natalia?"

"No, and I left right after that, went back to work. It's a big weekend for my bar, and you can check with my employees."

"Thank you, we will. And the last you saw of Mister Franklin?"

"He walked away up the beach."

* * *

><p>"You'll check her alibi, Chief?" Kate asked, leaning against his desk. Castle and Alexis kept quiet, watching them. "We have the valet's confirmation of when she left the party, but we still need to confirm her location during our timeline."<p>

"She doesn't own a boat." But the chief sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I'll confirm it. Do you think—"

"I try not to get attached to any theory this early, World War Two reenactors notwithstanding. But an AMT Automag is a big gun for a lady her size, so I'm inclined to rule her out. That doesn't mean we don't need to check off her boxes."

He nodded unhappily. "I understand, detective. And thank you, really. I'll drop by the bar, talk to Natalia's people myself—there's something I want to check in the harbor anyway."

"Thank you. My guys are sending me background on Franklin, so I have my own homework tonight. Shall we meet again tomorrow?"

They all walked out together, and again the chief shook her hand. "Detective. Mister Castle. Miss Castle." He turned and went back in his office.

"Awkward…" Castle fake-whispered. Alexis elbowed him.

"Dad."

"So." He looked at Beckett, rubbed his hands. "To shop!"

_Oh, Castle._ Kate shook her head, winking at Alexis. "Sorry, Rick. Just us girls. I know you want to follow us around and carry our stuff, but you'll have to find your own fun for a couple of hours."

Castle whined but he dropped them on Main Street, on the end with all the boutiques.

Alexis was fun. A lifelong weekender and summer resident, she knew all the good shops and half of the proprietors knew her. She excitedly led Kate around, talking about Hamptons activities and giving her opinion of the suits Kate selected. Kate did need two or three, even if Castle wasn't going to see them.

Finally, they stopped at a quiet teashop. It felt good, reminding Kate of expeditions with her mom. She smiled wistfully over the menu, made a selection and thought while Alexis made hers.

She waited until their cups arrived and they sipped and sat for a while.

"Thank you for showing me around, Alexis. This has been really fun."

The girl smiled happily. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too. But I wanted to ask you about something, Alexis. That's why I chased away your father."

Alexis' brow wrinkled. "Okay…"

Kate put down her tea, crossed mental fingers.

"Alexis. One of the tools in a good detective's kit is being able to see when someone's actions don't match their apparent character. So I've got a problem I hope you can help me with."

"I'll try…"

"I've been thinking a lot about Saturday night. You told me that you 'lost your nerve.' Your dad told me your reason for leaving Princeton, and he couldn't believe you'd been so impulsive. I agree, but hiring a cab to come back home isn't an 'impulsive' act, Alexis. You have to call the company, wait to be picked up, and then you have the whole drive to think about it."

Kate kept her gaze on Alexis. The girl's eyes were wide.

"And then the drive took longer than you thought. Alexis, I'm sure that by the time Princeton told your father you were missing and he tried to call, you knew why he was calling. He couldn't have waited to call me for more than a few minutes after he tried to reach you, so by that timeline you were already in the city. You had to have received his calls, and you knew exactly how worried he'd be. Instead of picking up and talking to your father, you let him continue to worry, Alexis.

"And here's where I have a problem. You are, without a doubt, the most responsible and thoughtful young person I know, and you are not scared of your father. So, why didn't you pick up? Why did you wait to talk to him until you got to my place? The _only_ theory I can see that makes any sense is that you wanted me to bring you out to the Hamptons. If you had talked to your father earlier, he would have told the cab driver to keep right on going, drive you directly here.

"So tell me, Alexis. Am I wrong?"

"Kate." Alexis' eyes were swimming. "I'm so sorry."

Kate reached across the table and took her hand.

"I already know that, sweetheart. But I need to know why."

"I— Kate— He ruined everything!"

"Your dad?"

She nodded. "Before he took me to Princeton, Dad told me it looked like he was going to be taking a 'special someone' with him to the Hamptons."

"And you thought that was me? Why?"

Alexis looked at her cup.

"Alexis? Why did you think your dad had asked me?"

"Because you guys are…" The girl shrugged, looked up. "Dad's…the greatest dad in the world, but he isn't…"

Kate waited.

"Dad and Gina got married when I was eleven. I think part of it was he wanted a mom for me, going into my teen years, but he and Gina really had fun together. Until she moved in with us." She pulled her hand back, put it in her lap, sighed unhappily.

"Gina's nice, Kate. I like her. But then she expected Dad to get serious. And," she looked down again, back up. "Some of their fights were about me."

"Oh, Alexis. That's…" Kate closed her mouth on her automatic _That's not your fault_. Alexis was smart, she knew that already.

"I know," Alexis answered her anyway. "But they'd fight, and Dad would walk away. You guys fight, and he fights back. He brings you _coffee_, Kate."

Kate blinked.

"Anyway, when I called Dad Friday night, and Gina answered…you and Dad haven't been okay, recently, have you? Because I edit his chapters? There's a robbery detective that comes out of nowhere with a thing with Nikki. And Dad's been blocked, he doesn't like where the story is going. When Paige broke up with Steven, she went back to Brad—even though it's stupid and they always argue. Kate?"

"I—" Kate swallowed, staring at the girl across the table from her. She wrapped her fingers around her tea. "Alexis, your dad and I aren't…"

"You won't tell Dad?"

"No." Kate shook her head. "No." Absurdly, she smiled. "But do I think you should—when you're a college grad and he doesn't control your allowance."

Alexis' smile came back and she nodded.

"Thanks, Kate. And I really am sorry. I shouldn't have done it." She sipped her tea while Kate stared at the top of her head.

_Dear God, this girl…_

They finished their tea, gathered up their bags, and found Castle in a shop trying on clown noses.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay, I expected to take another day or two on this chapter but the dialogue kept writing itself into my brain. I hate it when that happens, and now I can go write stuff I'll make money on.<strong>_


	8. Chapter 8

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p>Alexis' dad bought the clown nose and Alexis giggled watching him stick it on Kate. Kate laughed and rolled her eyes, but tried on a green derby hat with the nose—and gasped when Alexis caught a shot with her cell-cam. Kate threatened her with bodily harm if "the boys" saw it, and her dad spent the next five minutes trying to bribe her with a pony.<p>

Alexis had done the right thing, and whatever happened she was willing to pay for it with the summer. Gina had always tolerated her dad's silliness (until she hadn't), but _Kate_ played back. Alexis knew all about Kate's mom, and now she wondered if being around her dad let Kate play in a way she couldn't as Detective Beckett.

They all went shopping. They could have had their house service stock everything they needed for tonight before the weekend, but getting everything was part of the tradition. Hot dogs and buns, marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate bars, Alexis grabbed her favorite soda and made sure to walk behind her dad and Kate as they found their way through the aisles.

She watched other women in the store look at her dad, watched her dad not notice, and couldn't stop smiling. When they'd all gone to the Hallie Blue memorial concert, he and Kate had practically-but-not held hands and now they were not doing it again.

Kate and her dad were officially the dumbest adults she knew.

Or not; Alexis had long since come to the conclusion that nobody saw the world very clearly from inside their own heads—it was the only way to explain Paige and Trixie.

They got the bags of groceries into the car and Kate's cell rang. She didn't put it on speaker, but Alexis guessed from their side it was Chief Brady confirming Natalia's alibi.

"So, you girls have fun?" her dad asked when Kate hung up and finished texting. He nudged them into traffic.

"Kate got three suits," Alexis answered before Kate could start.

"That's better than a pony!" he quipped.

Kate elbowed him, twisted to mock-glare at Alexis. "And we had tea and girl-talk…" she drawled. "About a certain guy."

"Reeeally?" He looked at Alexis in the mirror. "Care to share with your dad?"

Alexis glared back at Kate. "Nope."

"Hmmm." He signaled, passed a van. "Kate, this is what happens with daughters. They grow up and suddenly they have secrets."

"All girls do, Rick." She patted his shoulder. "The smarter we are the more trouble we are, so buckle up."

She winked at Alexis.

"But we just talked about you—if there's another man in your little girl's life I don't know about it. You didn't have enough time at Princeton, did you Alexis?"

"No!"

Her dad "Hmmm'd" again, but smiled at her in the mirror and left it alone; Alexis let out a breath, hid her own laugh. _Thanks, Kate—remind Dad why he should be glad I left Princeton._ She didn't know if that had been Kate's strategy, but she was grateful anyway.

Her mom had told her once that the problem with dads who'd been "bad boys" was they knew what the boys would want with _their_ daughters. That had made Alexis more than a little nervous herself at the time, but Mom had assured her that she would be fine as long as she knew what _she_ wanted and got it on _her_ terms. Knowing her mom, Alexis wasn't entirely certain that was good advice, or at least all of it—a selfish reason she hoped that her evil plan would _work_; she was too old for another mom, but she was also positive Kate could be a huge help. And maybe Kate could keep her dad from threatening her future boyfriends. This could be good for _everybody_.

Besides. Kate at the police station? _Wow_.

* * *

><p>They got the groceries in and put away and Alexis got out her laptop and checked her networks—contemplating for, oh, thirty seconds, whether to post be-clowned Kate on her Facebook page.<p>

_Umm, no._

After a bit, she realized that Kate and her dad were still _working_. Her dad had pulled out an old white-board he'd used before going crazy with multiple screens, setting it up in his den while his printer hummed and spit out documents. Bringing her laptop with her, she curled up on the couch and tried to be inconspicuous.

Kate read off the medical examiner's estimated time of death, and her dad marked it up next to the time Mister Franklin had come out of the night to fall into their pool.

"Chief Brady talked to Natalia again after confirming her alibi," Kate said. "And asked why Franklin left up the beach instead of going back into the party. She said he received a text-message that ended their fight, and he left."

Her dad wrote _Left to meet someone?_ Below the line. "Do we know who?"

"Ryan checked the number—it's a burner phone purchased in the city."

"Okay…" her dad drew a box labeled _City_, but _call/burner phone_ in it. "His real estate business is in the city—if the text was business, why up the beach?" He waved at the den in general. "He'd go to his home office. What's up the beach?"

"In the direction he went? The marina."

"Oho! So he had an offshore meeting!"

"From the ME's report, it's likely he was shot and then immediately hit the water. Analysis also found minor peri-mortem bruising on the backs of his legs." She stood up, stepped around by Alexis' dad but stood back.

"So," she raised her hand, pointed. "Report gives minor stippling on his shirt, the shooter was back but not far back. Straight entries, so standing and about the same height."

"Bang!" he snapped his fingers, stepped back. "Franklin staggers back, hits the side of the boat hard, goes over. The shooter can't see him in the dark, worries the shots might have been seen from shore, steers off."

"Looks like it, Castle. Alexis? Could you satellite-map the marina? See if there are any private docks between it and Mister Shappiro's place?" She gave Alexis an address and she quickly used Google-Earth.

"Just two!" She clicked on them for addresses, read them off.

"Thanks, Alexis. We'll check them out tomorrow, but my money's on the marina. It's close enough to easily be inside our timeline."

"Anything else?" her dad asked.

"All of Franklin's ex-Wall Street buddies have done their time and are out, but Espo and Ryan haven't talked to all of them yet. All we've got are court records, faces, they'll call us tomorrow."

"Okay, then." He made a few more notes on the board, including a recognizable sketch of a shark attacking a boat. "Too bad there are no traffic-cams on the beach. Ooh! We should call the CIA, ask if they have any of their secret seagull-drones in the area."

"Sure, Castle. They'll be happy to admit to illegal domestic spying for us."

"There is that."

"So…" Kate looked at the board and worried her lip. "We have the time-stamp for Franklin's text so we know when he left the party. That gives plenty of time for him to walk to the marina or further, get off shore, and get shot. Not a lot of time for much else. Since it was already dark when he left the party, it's likely that Natalia was the last person other than our shooter to see him alive."

"Yeah, but we still have no _story_." Her dad rubbed his chin. "What gets a New York real-estate developer shot in the Hamptons? What do you think, Alexis?"

She had drawn her legs up to rest her chin on her knees as she watched them, and now she jumped.

"Me? But—"

Kate smiled encouragingly. "Consider it an unofficial internship. I'd like to hear what you think."

Alexis swallowed, focused on the board.

"Well… Mister Franklin has a history of white-collar crime. Doesn't a burner phone suggest he might have been involved in something illegal now?"

"Not necessarily." Kate scowled thoughtfully. "It wasn't Franklin's phone, and if the phone's owner is someone who wanted to threaten Franklin, a blackmailer for example, that would be sufficient motive for purchasing a burner. But you're right Alexis, about Franklin's record—a criminal history does suggest the possibility of current criminal activity, and a real-estate company offers opportunities for crimes like money laundering and fraud. I'll ask Ryan and Esposito to look at Franklin's business as well as the activities of his ex-partners."

"So then… what if Mister Franklin was engaged in something criminal again? He has a history of selling out his partners, too—could they have killed him to make sure he didn't?"

"Nobody trusts a rat!" Her dad laughed, nodding. "So they do the crime, make their money, and _bang_, make it that much less likely they'll be caught." On the motive side of the murder-board, he wrote _Cover up a crime?_ "No honor among thieves. I like it!"

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves," Kate cautioned. But she smiled at her. "Good theory building, Alexis."

"My little detective."

"Daaad…"

* * *

><p>The Castles were <em>rich<em>.

Kate still forgot that sometimes. Her own family was solid "Eastern Educated Class"; her dad had made enough in his law partnership that they'd had nice things and her mom had been able to found and direct a legal defense non-profit while taking pro-bono cases for clients she felt had been failed by the system. Kate had wanted for nothing (other than a pony). But the Castles lived on a different level.

The "beach house" was a clue, and so was the Loft and Castle's Ferrari, those were the usual "toys" Kate was used to seeing when cases took her into the homes of one-percenters. But Kate had gotten used to all that; what startled and reminded her were moments like Alexis' casual summoning of a pool crew on Memorial Day, and now her matter-of-fact explanation of the source of the wood for the bonfire. Some of it was casually collected from the beach during Hamptons vacations, but they also had a standing order with their house service—the same service that apparently came by to stock the fridge and pantry for them on a schedule but also at a moment's notice.

The Castles had _people_.

The fact that Alexis hadn't grown up to be a plastic Fifth Avenue girl was a testament to Castle's parenting. Or maybe she was just too smart to be anything but bored with the shop-and-play lifestyle of the children of so many of New York's elites. Probably both.

"Kate? Earth to Kate."

She looked around and realized that Castle had joined her on the veranda. The sea breeze played with his hair and she had the sudden urge to tuck down the wild strands tugged out of their professional style.

"Hey, Castle— Rick."

"What were you thinking about?" He leaned against the rail beside her.

"Oh, parents, children." She blinked sudden moisture in her eyes, smiled. "You've done a good job with her."

Castle shrugged. "Not really. Alexis practically raises herself. I've tried to lead her to the dark side, but it's all no dessert after brushing her teeth and no alcohol until twenty-one. I'm pretty sure my amazing daughter is a changeling."

"No, I can see what she got from you and it's not just her eyes."

He turned his head to look at her, and she straightened. Whatever he saw, he smiled.

"Well, those eyes will be glaring at both of us if we don't move. The wood isn't going to get itself down to the beach."

Guided by the high-priestess of the Castle Memorial Day Weekend tradition, they dragged the pieces of driftwood to the sand. Castle brought out beach chairs and a folded table, and they set up the food. As the sun set he lit the fire, building it up only enough that they could roast their hotdogs and melt the marshmallows for their smores comfortably.

Once they were half-stuffed, Castle threw the rest of the wood on the fire until the heat made them move their chairs. After the last hints of blue had faded from the horizon, he got out the fireworks and they spent the next hour lighting them off on the stretch of sand between the bonfire and the water, laughing and screaming and sometimes running. They were _highly_ illegal fireworks, but Kate didn't miss the fire extinguisher Castle had brought with them and the fact that he did all the setup on the stronger ones.

Afterwards they drank hot chocolate and lay on beach blankets, watching the bursts of other firework celebrations up and down the beach and comparing them to their own until they decided that the Castle Firework Display had won this year. When the last firework died and the bonfire had fallen to coals they could cover with sand they gathered everything up, left it to take in in the morning, and headed back to the house.

"Happy Memorial Day, Kate," Castle said, arm around a tired, happy Alexis. He kissed his daughter's forehead. "I used to have to carry this one off the beach."

"Dad…" Her only protest was a sigh and an eye-roll. "Goodnight, Kate. Happy Memorial Day."

"Goodnight, Alexis. Tomorrow, Rick."

"Tomorrow."

They parted ways at the top of the stairs. In her room, Kate wistfully contemplated another long soak—she was unlikely to find another deep tub in her new place—but her eyes were closing. She finally changed and tumbled into bed to sleep without dreams.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Not a lot of action in this chapter, but moving things along and having fun; a little look inside Alexis' head at this point, and family time. Probably two chapters to go before the episode (Season 2, Episode 25) concludes.<em>**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with the mystery stolen from _****Murder, He Wrote****_) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p>Chief Brady knocked on the kitchen door and Kate stopped with a forkful of Amazing Omelet halfway to her mouth. She put it down and wiped her mouth before sliding off the stool.<p>

"Chief!" Castle welcomed him. "There's more here, you're right on time."

He took off his hat. "That's—" He looked at Kate's vigorous confirming nod. "That would be fine, Mister Castle. All I've had this morning is coffee and a bagel."

Kate sat back down and grabbed her fork while Castle poured more egg into the skillet.

"You won't regret it, Chief," she said. "So what brings you by this early?"

"I found our shark, detective."

"Really?" Castle almost dropped the skillet before he remembered what he was doing. Alexis looked confused and Kate started to stand up again.

"It can wait, detective," Chief Brady waved her back. "It's waited a day."

"But—" Alexis frowned. "What does a shark have to do with Mister Franklin's death? He was shot!"

The chief looked at Castle and Kate, shrugged when they both nodded.

"McMurray saw a shark with big red eyes attack a boat the night Franklin was killed." He smiled. "Hallucinations aren't unusual for meth-heads, but I wondered why a shark."

"And?" Castle said when Kate didn't stop eating her omelet.

"A lot of boat owners like to decorate their craft with decals, art, other things. I thought McMurray might have seen something that made him think 'shark', so yesterday I checked out the marina. I didn't have time to check all the slips, so I went back this morning. That's when I found it."

"Found 'it'?" Castle finished the fold on the Amazing Omelet, slid it onto a plate, sprinkled on the sugar and brandy, and lit it on fire. Kate had to admire his dedication to the work.

"That's—" The chief stared at the burning omelet, shrugged. "The boat. With a red neon shark you would see from the beach." He accepted the plate with amazing trust. "I left Marty Bentley—he's the marina operator—with instructions to call if anyone tries to take it out."

"Blow it out, Chief," Kate said. "Do you know who it belongs to?"

He blew, accepted a fork from Alexis, and took an absent-minded bite. His eyes widened.

"This is—"

"I know." Kate gave him a minute to get another couple of bites, enough to convince him what he was eating was _just that good_. The chief didn't even let Castle's hand-rubbing and evil laugh distract him, but he impressed Kate by putting down his fork before he'd finished.

"The name probably doesn't mean anything to you, but the owner is another weekender named Aaron Lerner. Detective?"

Kate closed her mouth, picked up her fork.

"Finish your omelet, Chief."

* * *

><p>The marina had lots of empty slips, but their shark was still there. Marty Bentley followed behind as Chief Brady led them all across the docs. Kate's pulse quickened as they turned onto another row and she saw the red neon-light shark in their boat's window.<p>

"Okay!" Castle exclaimed, "Hey—" he tripped scrambling for balance and almost pitching into the water.

"Damn weekenders." Marty bent down, gathering up the tangle of mooring rope that tied their boat to the dock, lying in wait to trap Castle. The marina operator quickly tugged the knots out of the line and rolled it into a neat—and safe—spiral on the dock.

"You okay, Castle?" Kate asked.

"I'm fine, but— Hey! Look at that!"

Kate was already stepping over. "I see it, Castle." Blood spatter, on the hull and rail where a passenger could have gone over the side. "This is our crime scene." She drew her gun, peeked into the back. "Mister Bentley? Do you know if this boat went out on Sunday?"

"Yeah. After dark, about nine o'clock."

"That puts it in our window," Castle crowed. "Beckett—"

"On it. Chief? How fast can you get a warrant?" She looked around for the best angle to see deeper into the boat, when the cabin door opened and a thickset, florid man stepped out with a pail. Aaron Lerner, familiar from the court records and mug shots sent by Esposito, one of Franklin's four betrayed partners in crime. Her gun came up without thought, but he froze, more startled than she.

"Aaron Lerner?" She lowered her gun. "Kate Beckett NYPD, attached to the Hamptons. Please put the bucket down and come with us."

* * *

><p>"I didn't kill him!"<p>

"I hear that a lot, Mister Lerner," Kate said, elbows on the table. Chief Brady sat beside her and Castle stood at her back. "But we're getting a warrant to search your boat. What do you think we'll find?"

"How should_ I_ know? Look, detective— I didn't get in until late last night, I was in the city on Sunday!"

"And we'll check that, too, Mister Lerner. Right now we're talking physical evidence and motive."

"And yours is great!" Castle had moved to her right, forcing Lerner to split his attention. "You all got caught, and only Franklin didn't do time—because he flipped on you. That's got to leave a grudge. Axe to grind…blood on your boat says you buried it in his back."

"No— Look, Randy and I made up months ago. Talked on the beach, settled things, I even ate over at his place a few times. I couldn't blame the guy for saving himself—we were all going down anyway."

"Very magnanimous, Mister Lerner." She pulled his focus back to her. "Which doesn't change the fact that your boat is the crime scene. What are the odds that the guy whose testimony sent you to prison died on it?"

"I don't know! Anybody could have used it! And if you're looking for someone who had a beef with Randy, check out his neighbor! Now _that_ dude could have put a bullet in him."

"Neighbor?"

"I was over for dinner one night, the guy came over and got in a screaming match with Randy. Scary dude, and not just 'cause he said he'd bury him."

Beside her, Chief Brady coughed.

"Chief?" Kate looked at him.

"It's just a homeowner's dispute, detective—I can't see…" The chief's pale face told Kate he _could_ see.

"Well, now I'm _real_ curious," Castle said behind her and she turned to frown at him, turned back to the chief.

"Who—?"

Chief Brady sighed. "Mister Franklin's closest neighbor is Vincent Cardano."

Castle clapped his hands and gave a squeak of delight, making Kate jump.

"Vinnie 'the Scar' Cardano?"

* * *

><p>"But we've got Mister Lerner!" Chief Brady insisted. "You said it—motive, evidence…"<p>

"Not so much," Castle disagreed while Kate leaned against the desk and thought.

"Why _not_? Mister Castle—"

"Chief, Lerner doesn't strike me as the smartest man I've ever met but I don't think he's dumb enough to sit on a crime scene. And if he'd arrived earlier than last night like he said, then he'd have seen the blood—it would have been gone by this morning."

"He would have certainly cleaned up if he'd shot Franklin," Kate agreed.

"But detective—"

"It still feels too coincidental, Chief. We should hold Lerner while we check his alibi and search the boat, but I don't think we're going to find anything that wasn't left for us to find."

"Oooh!" Castle gasped. "You think it was a setup? Someone who knew their mutual past, wanted to redirect suspicion?"

"Maybe. We can only follow the evidence and statements. Chief? I want to talk to Vincent Cardano."

"No! I'm sure it's not…" Brady slumped, rubbed his eyes. "You're not going to let this go, are you detective?"

"And now you're learning about Beckett," Castle laughed.

"Castle… No, Chief. It's your office, your case, but if you won't let me do my job I might as well go back to the city."

"Okay." Kate watched him struggle with himself. "I'm going with you. We'll pick up the warrant for Mister Lerner's boat on the way."

* * *

><p>"I am so going to miss this."<p>

"Miss what, Rick?" The warrant had gotten them on the boat—where they hadn't found anything other than the blood, now collected and labeled for the lab. Leaving the marina, they wound through traffic. It was lighter today, the end of the holiday draining a lot of the weekend crowd back to the city.

"This. Us. Building theory, catching bad guys." He smiled boyishly, fading to seriousness. "Gina texted this morning. Just to let me know the whip is still there even if she isn't cracking it."

"So write. Really. I can do this with Chief Brady."

"Never. I can never get any words down when we've got a case." The smile came back, looking a little wistful. "I guess it is a good thing I decided to stay out here. Give you room."

_I don't want room, Castle._

Kate opened her mouth, and his phone rang.

"Rick Castle," he answered it without checking. "Gina! We were just talking about you. Mmm. No, but I— Got it. Soon." He hung up.

"And?"

"She showed what I gave her yesterday to the senior editors—says if I can give her five thousand words a day starting tomorrow she'll be able to keep me out of a contract review. Wants to know when we'll be done and she can come back out."

"Seriously, Rick?" She'd had no idea he was so far over deadline. But Castle wasn't scowling—the deep line that normally stitched his brow when he talked about Gina and her demands was nowhere to be seen. Obviously he hadn't rethought his summer plans.

"I know, she really does want to see this work. We'll be good, and you've got— Anyway, I'm glad we're doing this. And here we are."

They pulled into a drive, following Chief Brady's car. The house at the end of the drive wasn't as big as Castle's, but big enough. Castle parked and they got out, joining the chief on the porch.

"Detective—"

"Chief, I was thinking. You have to live with this guy around, and I don't. Would you mind if I take the lead again? I can be the hard homicide cop and you can be diplomatic."

Chief Brady let out his breath, too relieved to hide it. "That would be fine, detective."

"Okay, then!" Castle rubbed his hands, rang the doorbell. The big guy that came to the door heard them out, yelled "Yo, Vinnie!" and let them in. If Kate had been expecting a hostile welcome, she didn't get it.

"Rick Castle!" The shorter but still heavy—and scarred—man who replaced their doorman shook Castle's hand. "Sal's got stories about you. You guys come on in. Take off, Eddie."

The doorman disappeared and Vincent Cardano drew them into his living room. "Can I get you guys anything? What can I do for you? You doing more research? I loved that Corlano character in _Storm Breaking._"

"Actually Vinnie, Sal told you I shadow the police these days? This is business. I'm sure you know Chief Brady? This is Detective Kate Beckett."

"Okay." Vincent looked at Chief Brady, then at Kate. "If she's the police you shadow, Rick, I understand why."

"Mister Cardano," Kate said. "We understand you had a recent disagreement with Mister Franklin?"

He snorted, eyes sharp above his smile. "Nothing 'recent' about it, doll. More like six months. The bastard built a fancy helicopter pad in his back yard. Every Tuesday, two o'clock in the morning, the son-of-a-bitch buzzes my house."

"And what did you do about it, Mister Cardano?"

"Complained to the city council. But they gave him his permit anyway, detective. I _know_ Franklin greased a few palms. Money and city hall. Can't say I didn't celebrate a little when I heard he'd been popped. This morning was real quiet."

"I understand you had words with Mister Franklin? Threatening ones?"

The big man sighed and sat back.

"Enough with the fifth degree, detective, I know how this works but I'm a law-abiding citizen—at least around here. You don't crap where you eat, you know what I mean? Anyway I was at a private game Sunday night, I'll give you their names, you can talk to whomever. But I'll give you one good reason why when I say it wasn't me you can take it to the bank."

"And why is that, Vinnie"

"Because, much as I'm happy Franklin is no longer breathing, if _I'd_ popped the guy you would have never found the body. And you can take _that_ to the bank."

* * *

><p>"I'm just as glad he didn't do it. I'd have hated for Sal to hear I'd helped lock him up."<p>

"Interesting priorities, Castle." They all stood talking by Chief Brady's car.

One of the few faults Kate could still really hold against Castle was his romantic ideas about mobsters; not that he thought they were _good_ guys, just that he thought they were cool and people it was fun to know.

He coughed. "Anyway Chief, he's not lying; if he had popped—shot—Franklin, or had his boys do it, this would be a missing person's case."

"We'll still talk to his names." Kate flipped her notebook pages. "And these aren't all mobbed up players—in fact most of them aren't."

The chief grimaced. "I'm afraid some of our locals like to walk on the wild side, detective."

"It just makes our job easier, Chief." Her phone rang. "Hold on, it's Esposito." She put it on speaker. "Go ahead, Espo."

"Beckett? Are you guys still holding Lerner?"

"Yeah, why?"

"'Cause we checked out Franklin's business. Ryan wanted to know how Franklin could be making any money when he's just buying up closed properties and sitting on them. Turns out he was monetizing his investment by hosting meth labs."

Kate felt that _gotcha_ moment when an out-of-focus picture sharpened into bright detail. Castle clapped his hand over his mouth.

"Meth— And Lerner?"

"You'd think burned once and all that, but our boy was working for Franklin. We've got statements from the lab workers. He picked up the product every Monday night, flew it up to the Hamptons. On Franklin's helicopter."

* * *

><p><strong><em>I like Chief Brady, and it probably shows in this story; it's not his fault he's a bit overwhelmed by a high-profile murder investigation.<em>**


	10. Chapter 10

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with the mystery stolen from _****Murder, He Wrote****_) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p>"So, Lerner <em>did<em> do it? It was a management takeover?" Castle watched Lerner on the screen. Brady had had Deputy Jones pull him out of lockup to be re-interviewed when they got back, and Beckett and Brady had gone another round with him.

"Unless you believe his story about a scary local pissed about Franklin's moving in," Kate said.

"Do you, Beckett?"

"I don't know. The helicopter was a smart way of moving product out of the city—much safer than by land or sea—but selling here?"

"So Franklin goes from cooking the books to cooking meth, but he's new to the game—unlike Vinnie he doesn't know better than to crap where he eats. He's got a stop on his pipeline here, why not sell here? And we've still got the problem of Lerner not being smart enough to clean his own crime scene. Chief? You said your drug problems doubled in the last six months?"

Chief Brady nodded.

"So he dumps some of his product here to maximize profits, upsets the local supplier, who executes him godfather style—"

"On Lerner's boat to implicate Franklin's own people!" Kate finished.

"It all fits! Chief?"

The chief slumped, rubbed his face. "So it looks like it's my problem. What do we do?"

Castle looked at a loss, and Kate sighed. "I don't work vice, Chief. But I think a homicide investigation does turn up the local heat. Shake McMurray for his dealer, and if the dealer isn't our likely then promise him immunity for the name of his supplier. Work your way up the chain threatening each link with a homicide charge."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." Brady picked up his mic. "Jones?"

"Yeah, Chief?"

"Put Lerner back in lockup and get us McMurray."

"Um…okay."

"Jones? Is there a problem?"

"Well, since he wasn't a suspect anymore there was no reason to hold him after he finished sleeping it off—we let him go yesterday."

Castle barked a laugh, and Kate hid her smile. "It's not a problem, Chief. It's not like you could have held him for more than a day without charges anyway. Was he carrying?"

Brady shook his head. "Only in his system, detective. And we didn't even test him for it. Sorry."

"Really, not a problem. Have your boys go pick him up. We'll wait."

"But not here," Castle said. "Beckett, we have a commitment of our own. Alexis will kill _us_ if we're not home for lunch."

* * *

><p>"Wow, Detective—Kate." Alexis looked her over. "Dad's going to just <em>die<em>."

"I hope not—one body in the pool is enough." But Kate bit her lip, looking pleased as she turned in front of her bedroom mirror.

Alexis had talked Detective Beckett into a swim with lunch, arguing that investigations were unpredictable and they could wind up closing this one by dark—which meant Kate would have to go back to the city.

Alexis hoped the investigation would drag out for _days_, but Kate had laughed and let herself be persuaded.

"Yeah…" Alexis let herself shiver a little, but kept her smile. "And this time I have a plan to get Dad to actually swim!"

"I thought he didn't swim this early in the season?"

"Dad's a big baby. So I dug these out." She picked up the pool bag she'd brought in with her, opened it up. Kate took a peek and her eyes widened.

"Young lady, I like the way you think. Your father won't see what hit him."

"Oh yes he will," Alexis laughed. Kate turned to look at herself again, and Alexis' hand came up to cover her mouth. "And that's the point."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, Kate. Just, you look great."

* * *

><p>The look Castle gave Kate when she and Alexis came down the stairs, pool bags over their shoulders, made her pulse skip and speed up. She barely kept the smile from curling across her face—she hadn't been at all sure, but the purple and silver one-piece, a web of straps and buckles, looked to have been a good investment.<p>

"Eyes in, Castle."

"Not a chance, Beckett. You've got an audience."

"Dad…" Kate smoothed her smile as Alexis made the proper daughterly response to parental commentary. "C'mon, guys! We're wasting sunlight!"

"Yes, boss!" Castle saluted his daughter, hefting the basket of sandwiches and drinks, waving for them to precede him.

They walked down to the pool, where Castle pulled three of the pool chairs into a circle around one of the low tables while Alexis laid out their lunch. The wind off the beach barely ruffled Kate's hair, and the cloudless sky let the sun warm them as they sat. Alexis made sandwiches almost as fancy as her dad's, and just as delicious, and the lemonade hit the perfect sweet spot.

Kate closed her eyes and lie back to sip her drink and enjoy the sun on her face, listening to Castle brief his daughter on the events of the morning. Alexis asked intelligent questions, and Kate smiled to herself. The girl had rather stunned Kate when she'd done her day of work-study at the precinct, not only organizing the mess she'd been given but being caring enough and clever enough to track down the proper owners of a family photo-album.

Whatever Alexis decided to do, she threw her heart into it.

"Kate?"

Speaking of which…

"Yes?"

"Time to swim—the whole two-hours-after-you-eat thing is a myth."

"If you say so, sweetie." Kate stood, stretched, and undid the wrap she'd tied around her waist. She left it on the chair and took three steps—_not_ looking at Castle—to drop waist-deep into the shallow end of the pool (and hide her gasp at the cool water) less than ten feet from Alexis' dad.

Alexis set her bag on the edge and dropped into the pool beside Kate, giving a little yelp. Her dad sat forward in his chair and laughed at them, shaking his head. "You're both crazy."

"Maybe, Castle," but this time we brought something for you, too." Kate reached into the open bag, tossed the first Super-Squirter to Alexis and grabbed the second. Castle's eyes widened.

"Hey—wait— No!" He was quick, she had to give him that, but their twin jets caught him before he'd jumped to his feet and gotten more than two steps. They kept it up, laughing insanely, and the jumbo water-guns hosed his head and shirt before he got close to out of range.

He stopped. Turned around, and looked down at his dripping pool-shirt and shorts.

"Well. Okay then, fair's fair." He stepped towards the pool.

"Castle…Castle!" Kate protested, still laughing, as he dropped into the pool beside her without a pause.

"No Beckett, it's my turn." Before she could dodge away he'd wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her up.

"It was Lexis' idea!" She gasped. "Castle—"

"Oh, she'll get her turn." He went under, taking her with him.

Alexis did get her turn as Castle chased them both around the pool until the chill sent them all into the Jacuzzi. Castle had shed his pool shirt somewhere during the chase, and Kate got to admire him in return while they swam and soaked. It was perfect.

Which of course meant it couldn't last. Her cellphone rang as they sat, relaxing and soaking up heat.

* * *

><p>"Well that was easy."<p>

"Not happy, Castle?" They stood on the marina dock as Chief Brady and his deputies got ready.

Brady had called to tell them that they didn't need to come back to the station; his boys had found McMurray and the meth-head had rolled on his dealer. They had searched the guy's place, found the burner phone that called Franklin to the marina, and now they were going in to arrest the guy on his boat.

"Marty Bentley. I did not see that coming."

"Yeah, well it makes sense Castle—who better than the marina operator to know about Lerner, take the boat out with nobody else seeing him?"

"Yeah." They watched the chief yell, gun out, kick down the cabin door and disappear inside. "So, Chief Brady's first time pulling his gun."

"Maybe I should go with them."

"Put four guns in there? They'll be alright, I'm sure they don't need you to show them how it's done."

More shouts came from inside the boat, but no gunshots and Kate relaxed. A minute later Chief Brady emerged with a cuffed and protesting Marty Bentley. It took him some work to maneuver both of them off the boat and onto the dock.

"We got him, detective," he said needlessly.

"Hey Chief!" Deputy Jones called behind him. He waved what looked like plastic bags. "We've got a dozen baggies of what looks like meth down here, and a 35 caliber carbine!"

"Which I'm sure will match the ballistics report on the murder weapon," Kate said. "Good work, Chief."

"This is ridiculous!" Bentley stood, breathing hard, not struggling but not slumped in defeat. "I didn't kill anybody! You've got the wrong guy!"

The chief handed him off to his deputies, turned to Castle and Kate as they led him away.

"Hold on a second there!" Castle shouted, startling her. The deputies stopped, turned around.

"Castle, what?"

Castle pointed at the ropes holding mooring Bentley's boat to the dock.

"This knot. Both of these knots. Perfect figure-eights, neatly flemished." He looked at Bentley. "Did you tie these?"

"Of course I did! It's my boat."

Kate looked at the knots, looked up. "What about it, Castle?"

"It's beautiful," he babbled excitedly. "I mean, it's perfect! That could be in a book on nautical knots!"

Chief Brady frowned, scratched his head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everyone agrees that the killer is the same person who stole Aaron Lerner's boat—that person had to tie the boat back up to the dock! But the knot was _sloppy_—I even tripped over it. Whoever tied these figure-eights is an experienced boatman—tying the knot we saw on Lerner's boat would have been impossible for him! Bentley can't be the killer!"

Kate blinked. She'd watched Bentley retie the knot yesterday, just like the knots Castle held up as Exhibit A. Could Bentley be _that_ clever? Not in her experience.

The chief was talking. "But we found the burner phone that placed the call to Franklin in Bentley's apartment! How do you explain that?"

"That's easy! We know that the killer used Lerner's boat to point us at a likely suspect. When we didn't bite, he needed to frame someone else before we looked in the right direction. So, who better than the witness who saw the boat go out? Our killer just planted the phone, the meth, and the gun!"

"And just who do you think planted it?"

Castle stepped forward, into Chief Brady's personal space.

"You tell me."

_Castle_… The chief opened his mouth and Kate could see the situation deteriorating from here. "Uh, Chief? Who talked to McMurray, got him to finger Bentley?"

The chief stopped, closed his mouth. "Jones. It was Deputy Jones."

Half-turned, Kate saw everything but couldn't move fast enough as Jones drew his gun, clubbed his fellow deputy to the dock with it, grabbed Bentley and put the gun to his head.

"Get back! Everybody stay back!"

Beside her, she Chief Brady drew almost as fast as she did.

"Take it easy, Jones." His voice was a little high, but his hands stayed steady. "We don't want anybody to get hurt."

Deputy Jones ignored him to glare at Castle. Kate knew the feeling, but she wasn't going to let it stand from someone with a gun in his hand.

"You rich weekenders! You think you're so smart! Meantime you pollute our beaches, you throw your money around like you're better than us!"

"Hey! I don't think I'm better than you!" Castle protested from behind her. _Not helping, Castle_…

"Shut up! I don't care about that! But then, Franklin's _city_ money wasn't' good enough for him, had to move in on my side business! So I did what I had to do—" Bentley elbowed Jones, dropped to the dock. Jones recovered, realized he was exposed and raised his gun to point at _Castle_. The double shots dropped him, Chief Brady's a split-second before Kate's.

Chief Brady stood there, stunned, but Kate was already moving. By the time Brady lowered his gun, she'd run forward to straddle Jones. She rolled him and cuffed him before looking up.

"Nice!" Castle laughed. "That was a Hamptons Heat twist I didn't see coming." He looked at the chief. "Sorry about the whole accusing you of murder thing. We still good?"

"Yeah."

Castle patted his shoulder, and the chief remembered to put away his gun.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you won't change your mind, Kate? Go back in the morning?"<p>

They stood in front of the "beach house" by her car. Alexis had put up a loud argument when Kate had announced her plan to drive back to the city tonight, but had finally surrendered and helped her pack. She'd given Kate a hug at the door before letting her go and going inside.

"Sorry, Castle." Two days of working on it and _Castle_ still sounded more natural in her ears than _Rick_. And it would be "Castle" back at the precinct. "Chief Brady has everything wrapped up and Montgomery will want me back soonest. And you need to write. It's been fun."

_Fun_. That sounded good, a good way to leave it. _It was fun, Castle_. Now she could go, Gina could come back, and she would have the summer to get ready for the next time she saw him.

Castle looked like he wanted to continue Alexis' argument, but he didn't. Instead he stepped back and smiled.

"Okay, Kate. See you in the fall?"

He held out his hand.

Kate looked at Castle and tried, with every detective skill she'd picked up on the job, to see what was there. Castle looked…like Castle, always with a smile and glad to be here and she couldn't read him any better now than she could day one when he'd made her want to shoot him, when she'd thought nobody could love Castle as much as he loved himself. She flashed back on those words—_See you in the fall?_—_her_ faint words just days ago as he walked away with Gina and a smile—and she felt the echo of that stunning hit.

_He ruined everything!_ Alexis' protest over tea.

But that was the assessment of a sixteen-year old, one who, however smart and precocious, didn't know the whole story.

She took his hand, didn't shake it. "Think you'll be done by then, Castle?"

"I think so. I feel properly inspired. This has been fun." Still the quirky smile, but his eyes… Kate might just be seeing things, the things she hoped to see, but…

_What do you want, Kate?_ Tom had asked her that, when she'd told him that they were done before they'd really started. She hadn't been able to answer him, not honestly, but if she didn't answer now she never would. _No. Not this time_. Castle had stepped away from her, turned to Gina, because Kate had made it painful for him to stay. And maybe that was the way it was supposed to be but she _couldn't_ leave it there.

_What do you want, Kate?_ She wanted Castle, and now she felt the shivery not-panic that came just before going into a hot room, gun up and Espo and Ryan behind her.

"Castle— Rick. The other day, when you said goodbye at the precinct, I wanted to tell you something."

His smile deepened.

"You did. You told me to have a good summer."

Kate took a deep breath, focused on that smile. "Yeah, well sometimes I don't always say what I mean, Castle. Big surprise."

"Oh?" An eyebrow went up.

"What I was going to say was—I said, that I'm not the easiest person to get to know…"

"True, Detective Beckett. But you're worth the work."

_I can't do this_. She felt like she was going to throw up.

"Kate?"

And now _he_ was worried. She looked at his big hand, warm in hers, and took another breath. Pushing her hair behind her ears, she made it all in a rush.

"I said awhile back that I'd gotten used to having you around, Castle, pulling my pigtails. The truth is—the truth is that I love having you as my partner and if all we ever do is share coffee and build theory together, I can accept that but I've realized that what I really want is something more. Castle—if I missed my chance—if you and Gina— I get that. I do. But I wanted you to know."

She winced, stumbling over the last words but refusing to lose her courage, to look away. Finished, she sucked in air. Waited.

"Rick?

"Castle? Castle."

He blinked. "I'm sorry. I'm just remembering every line of heart-scene dialogue I've ever used and coming up dry." Impossibly, his smile widened.

Kate exhaled, realized she wasn't finished and took another breath.

"I—ended things with Tom before you left. I should have told you this weekend." She huffed. "So, there's that. Say something, Castle? I'm doing all the work here."

"Okay, I got it." His hand tightened around hers. "Kate, you had me at 'something more.'"

Her laugh was one sharp exhalation as she finally blinked, light-headed. "Really? You're going with _Jerry McGuire_?"

"I steal from the best. Kate."

He dropped her hand, pulling her close hard enough to force a breath of surprise out of her. Without her high heels, she looked up into his beaming face and then his mouth dropped to hers, slowly, softly, and stayed there.

He might have stolen the line from Hollywood, but Tom Cruise didn't need to teach him how to kiss. His lips were warm and she'd remember other details later, now all she knew was they were kissing and that meant all was right. Self-preservation made her breathe before she asphyxiated. She opened her eyes to see him still smiling with all of his face, and she realized she'd put up her hands to draw them through his hair, pull him down to her.

He puffed a laugh, warm across her face. "One year, one month, fourteen days."

"What?"

"Since you walked into my last Derick Storm book launch party."

Her own smile grew till it hurt.

"Wow, Castle. I'm impressed."

"And I said, 'Where would you like it?'"

"And not so impressed."

"And I fell for Detective Kate Beckett, the girl with the gun." He let go, reluctantly, and his hand went back down to capture hers. He stroked it, running his thumb over her knuckles. Kate looked at their joined hands, back up at the beautiful blue eyes that watched her. Her inside-voice said she should be acting more like Bergman to his Bogart, but Castle was the wordsmith and the wide-open smile just wouldn't leave her face.

"So…"

"So."

"I do have to get back to the city."

"And I have to write a book."

She swung their hands between them, chewed on her smile. "Are you going to call Gina?"

"Yes. To tell her that Alexis can keep me on track."

"Oh. Okay."

She couldn't smile any wider, and the unbearable need to say something fought with the equal need to keep the moment perfect as it was.

Castle was the one who finally sighed and let go. After heartbeats, Kate remembered where she'd put her feet. Stepping back she folded, near-bonelessly, into her car. Castle closed her door, tapped the window. When she turned her key and brought the window down, he gripped the open frame, leaned in for a second kiss that left them resting foreheads together until he straightened.

She had to remember how to put it in gear, and she shifted without looking away as he took a step back.

"So. Kate. See you in the fall?"

"See you in the fall."

* * *

><p><em><strong>And this ends <strong>_**The Long Holiday**_**. The final chapter is the largest, but it had no stopping points where I could cut it in two (and since I'd written the final scene last week, once I'd finished the mystery I decided not to leave you guys hanging).**_

_**You can imagine for yourselves what happens next: Season Three opens much differently. Beckett and Castle have had the summer to talk, text, and adjust to the idea of Something More before Castle gets back in the fall. Then Beckett wants to hide their relationship from the boys. The two of them dance around each other like awkward high schoolers while Castle plans The Night. Etc. All good fun.**_

_**And this **__**was**__** fun. Maybe I'll do it again some time; there's not much romance in my professional writing, and I certainly need the practice.**_

_**Maybe in the fall.**_


	11. Chapter 11

**_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters-if I did I would have my own house in the Hamptons (you can find writing I do get paid for on Amazon, beginning with _****Wearing the Cape****_). _****The Long Holiday****_ is strictly cannon to the point where it launches from the ending of Episode 2/24, _****A Deadly Game****_. After that it's strictly AU and (with obvious bits stolen from future episodes) the sole product of this author's fevered imagination. This is my first fanfic, and reviews are most welcome._**

* * *

><p><strong>NEXT EPISODE-<strong>**_Summer Heat_**

Kate finished up her case notes and saved them. Another piece of paperwork out of the way, her eyes wandered back to Castle's text: _I'm back in the city today for an editor's meeting. We should talk. Dinner?_

Dinner. That should be okay, right? She shouldn't be desperately trying not to panic.

Since she'd left the Hamptons and returned to the city, Castle had texted occasional word-count boasts, descriptions of dinners or of books Alexis was reading, anecdotes. And that was it; there'd been no phone calls, no late-night discussions of, oh, of anything. No discussion of what was going to happen at the end of the summer when he got back, and even the texts had tapered off. She'd heard more from Alexis in the last two months, and now Castle wanted to _talk_. How was she going to tell him that the waiting had given her time to come to her senses? That she desperately wanted to find the Reset Button and push it?

She put her head in her hands, elbows on her desk, and moaned silently.

Maybe not a moan, more of a wordless whine, but not something Detective Kate Beckett would normally indulge in.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Castle and Beckett have reached an understanding: she goes back to the city, he stays in the Hamptons and finishes his new Nicki Heat book, and in the fall they will see what happens. But then Beckett gets cold feet...<strong>_

_**See MGHarmon's new story, 2/25/15**_


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